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Solanaceous plants are also called as nightshade
plants. Among these plants, some of the
known crops include Tomato, potato, peppers,
capsicum, etc. Potato is an exceptional
case of solanaceous family that it belongs
to a tuber kind means it grows in the roots
underground. These types of crops are severely
attacked by the pests than any other. Commonly
solanaceous vegetables are fruits are pulpy
in nature, which makes it attracted by the
insects. Insects directly feeding the crops
are observed in general. Sometimes insects
spreading the pathogens or viruses over
the plants are also seen. Specialty in the
insects feeding solanaceous crops is that
a particular insect completely feeding on
one type of fruit will not feed or affect
the other type of solanaceous fruit. For
instance, Broad mite
is an insect which infects a pepper plant
severely but the same insect is not seen
infecting tomato or any other plant of the
same family. Types or kind of insects affecting
solanaceous plants can be classified with
respect to the plant stage they infect.
Plant stages subdivide into early, middle
and mature.
Insects infecting at an early stage:
Normally, at early stage crops like tomato,
pepper, etc. is grown under a controlled
environment called greenhouse before planting
them into the commercial fields. The reason
for growing under green house is to control
the frost damage as these crops are vulnerable
to frost that prevails prior to summer.
Under such conditions, there are chances
of getting damaged by insects resisting
the less concentrated insecticides. Insects
like wireworm or white grubs - infects the
stem and roots of the crops making it to
wither, beetles
- makes shot holes in the leaves, cutworms
- which feeds the base of the plant cutting
down from the soil layer and most importantly
thrips - which spreads tomato
spotted wilt virus in solanaceous plants,
are commonly observed. Control measures
for these insects include the use of fumigants
injected into the soil to get rid of insects
especially causing wilt in plants.
Insects infecting at middle stage or flowering
stage:
Flowering occurs in spring season and thus
pests adoptive to spring will most probably
infect the plants. Such sort of insects
include pepper weevil - inhibits flowering
in pepper plant, armyworms like beet armyworm,
yellow stripped armyworm and southern armyworm
- inhibits the complete foliage, cabbage
looper and hornworm - seen infecting plants
throughout the season. Aphids, sweet potato
fly, broad and spider
mites is other important insects seen
infecting during the flowering stage of
plants.
Insects infecting at the mature stage of
the solanaceous crops:
These insects causing damage at mature
stage were otherwise called as fruit feeders.
Warm varieties like tomato fruit worm, beet
armyworm, tobacco hornworm feeds on the
vegetables of the plant. Corn borers damages
tuber crops and pepper maggot feed on the
pepper fruits.
All these types of insects are proved to
be eradicated using Neem
oil certified by Environmental
Protection Agency.
Author: Adam Teaser - neem
articles
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