Table 1. Common insects and mites associatted with poinsettias.

Sucking insects/bugs (Homoptera: sucking nymphal and adult forms) - suck sap from leaves, stems and roots causing wilting, and a build-up of honeydew and sooty mold on leaf surfaces:

-mealybugs (Pseudococcidae) - 56 day cycle

-citrus mealybug (Planococcus citri (Riso))

-striped mealybug (Ferrisia virgata (Cockerell)

-greenhouse whitefly (Trialeurodes vaporarium (Westwood)) - 42 day cycle

-sweet potato whitefly (Bemesia tabaci (Gennadius)) - 18-23 day cycle

-scale insects (Diaspididae) - 168 day cycle

-brown soft scale (Aspidiotus nerii Bouche) - 168 day cycle

-green peach aphid (Myzus persicae (Sulzer)) - several days generation

-root aphid (Pemphigus spp.)

Spider mites (Acarina, Acari) - suck sap from clusters of epidermal cells causing leaves to appear stippled and produce webbing of silk associated with the infestation:

-two spotted spider mite (Tetranychus urticae Koch) - 14 day cycle

Thrips (Thysanoptera) - rasp epidermal tissue causing "silvering" in spots or deformed leaves when leaves are attacked while in the process of expanding:

-greenhouse thrips (Heliothrips haemorrhoidalis (Bouche)) - 37 day cycle

Caterpillars (Lepidoptera) - chew irregular holes in leaves, remove entire leaves, roll leaves up or web them together and occasionally tunnel into shoots:

-Poinsettia hornworm (Erinnyis ello (L.))

-beet armyworm (Spodoptera exigua (Hubner))

-leaf rollers

Flies (Diptera: chewing larvae or maggots) - chew randomly through young roots:

-fungus gnats (Bradesia spp.) - 31 day cycle

-fungus fly (Scaria spp.)

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