ABOUT GARDEN PESTS
You toil and water and weed and work, all to find insects got to your harvest first. Your lawn and garden make the perfect home for pests. For many pests, your plants are the perfect food source, for others, your garden is the perfect environment to hide from predators thanks to its tall grasses and colorful flowers.​
GRASSHOPPER
These chewing herbivores date back to the early Triassic era, around 250 million years ago. They get the hopper in their name from their powerful hind legs that enable them to escape threats with vigorous leaping.
Definitely plant-eaters, some of these species are serious pests of cereal grains, vegetables and pasture grasses. Like their locust kin, they can swarm over wide areas and destroy crops.
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When under attack, grasshoppers may change colors or they may spit. They can fly short distances and males are known to sing, which is a means of communication to the larger group.
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In Southern Mexico, grasshoppers are used as food in tortillas and chilli sauce. In China, they're fried and served on skewers.
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Because grasshoppers fly, they are not a guaranteed pest Axiom handles, but our regular treatments will help keep down their populations on your property.
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JAPANESE BEETLE
These small beetles carry a big threat. They don't care what kind of plant they feed on, and can do monumental damage to crops across the United States.
These beetles have only been in America since 1916, originally coming across from Japan on rooted plantings. Since then, they've been prolific breeders and voracious plant eaters.
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Easy to identify because of their metallic, blue-green heads, copper backs, tan wings and small white hairs line each side of the abdomen, you'll usually find these bugs eating in small dinner parties, beginning in June.
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Japanese Beetles have no borders. If you happen to eradicate your group, that won't stop your neighbor's beetles from coming to your yard. They love geraniums, roses, grapes, beans and raspberries.
SLUG
Slugs are the scourge of gardeners and if you've ever touched one or stepped on one in bare feet, it's a feeling that will stay with you forever.
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Slugs are terrestrial gastropod mollusks and depending on the type, they have no shell, a very reduced shell or only a small internal shell. Slugs have two pairs of retractable tentacles on their heads. The upper pair is light sensing with eye spots on the ends. The lower pair provides a sense of smell.
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Slugs bodies are composed mostly of water and they must generate protective mucus to survive. They are most active following rains because the moist ground is easier to move across.
Slugs eat decaying plant material and fungi as well as flowering herbs and vegetables, making them the home gardener's least-liked pest.
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If you see evidence of slugs and snails in your yard, contact your Axiom professional.
SNAIL
Snails are most noteworthy for their spiral shells that are loaded onto their back. The hard structure is composed of calcium carbonate and continues to grow over the lifetime of the snail.
The shell shields and protects the snail's soft body and vital organs. Snails can live in the wild for 3 to 7 years and in captivity for up to 10-15 years or longer.
The terrestrial snails we find in our yards and gardens are most active at night and during morning hours. They feed on plants and decaying plant material and can cause problems for gardeners and farmers. As they grow, so does their appetite.
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Need help controlling them? Call us!
THRIP
Most thrip species are plant feeders. Some thrips are leaf and flower pests. They are minute (one millimeter wide and three to four millimeters long) and mobile insects with slender, torpedo-shaped bodies.
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They can be difficult to see without a magnifying glass or microscope. Four wings may be present or absent in the adults. If present, they are fringed. Mouth parts are the rasping-sucking type.
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Thrips cause flower and leaf bud damage as they feed on flower and leaf cellular fluids. Much of the damage is done while leaves and/or flowers are in the bud stage and as they unfurl, petals and leaves show a physical distortion.
When thrip populations are large, plants can be damaged severely because larvae and adults feed on the same host plant at the same time.