Comments for White Furry insect on Peony pod (Hopper)

Comments for
White Furry insect on Peony pod (Hopper)

Whiteflies on Annies bush
by: Moni

Annie
It would be good to have a photo of both the insects you are seeing! Are these insects on peony bushes? Where are you located geographically?
From your description, I would say your tiny white moth-like insects are whiteflies. The common name “whiteflies” comes from the fact that the wings and bodies of the adults
are covered with a fine, powdery white wax.The young stage look mostly like tiny oval discs on the back side of a leaf. When you shake a bush, whiteflies do fly all over and sometimes heavy infestations fly in your face.
Whiteflies are related to leafhoppers, aphids and planthoppers. Whiteflies feed on the juices of plant leaves. They are commonly a problem in greenhouses as well as on plants in the solanaceous family...like tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, Nicotinia.
The populations can become so heavy that they can destroy the foliage therefore killing the plant. If these insects are in a greenhouse the controls are a little different than if they are outside. Since the other furry insect was on peony and you did not specify otherwise, to control whiteflies on peony, you could try to hose them off with a blast of water. Next if that does not work is spray with neem or insecticidal soap. Finally, since peonies are perennials that die back in the winter, you should make sure you cut off all the old foliage in the fall and get rid of it. One other possible thing to try next year would be to put out yellow sticky traps. Yellow sticky traps attract many flying insects, especially several pests like whitefly. You put the traps hanging just above the foliage to trap the insects. Then there are fewer to feed on the leaves.
Here are some photos on Bugguide of whiteflies to see if that is what you have?
http://bugguide.net/node/view/7055/bgimage?from=0

Send us a photo and let us know more about your white critters.

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Submitted by: Moni

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Comment
Annie It would be good to have a photo of both the insects you are seeing! Are these insects on peony bushes? Where are you located geographically? From your description, I would say your tiny white moth-like insects are whiteflies. The common name “whiteflies” comes from the fact that the wings and bodies of the adults are covered with a fine, powdery white wax.The young stage look mostly like tiny oval discs on the back side of a leaf. When you shake a bush, whiteflies do fly all over and sometimes heavy infestations fly in your face. Whiteflies are related to leafhoppers, aphids and planthoppers. Whiteflies feed on the juices of plant leaves. They are commonly a problem in greenhouses as well as on plants in the solanaceous family...like tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, Nicotinia. The populations can become so heavy that they can destroy the foliage therefore killing the plant. If these insects are in a greenhouse the controls are a little different than if they are outside. Since the other furry insect was on peony and you did not specify otherwise, to control whiteflies on peony, you could try to hose them off with a blast of water. Next if that does not work is spray with neem or insecticidal soap. Finally, since peonies are perennials that die back in the winter, you should make sure you cut off all the old foliage in the fall and get rid of it. One other possible thing to try next year would be to put out yellow sticky traps. Yellow sticky traps attract many flying insects, especially several pests like whitefly. You put the traps hanging just above the foliage to trap the insects. Then there are fewer to feed on the leaves. Here are some photos on Bugguide of whiteflies to see if that is what you have? http://bugguide.net/node/view/7055/bgimage?from=0 Send us a photo and let us know more about your white critters.

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WHITE FURRY INSECT ON PEONY
by: ANNIE

I'M ALSO INQUIRING ABOUT THIS BUG..ALONG WITH THE FURRY THING, I ALSO SEE A WHITE SMALL MOTH-LIKE INSECT ON THE SAME BUSH. THEY ALWAYS APPEAR TOGETHER AND IF YOU SHAKE THE BUSH, THEY FLY LIKE PIECES OF COTTON. THEY ALSO SCATTER TO THE BACK OF THE STEM TO GET AWAY FROM ME. WHAT IS IT AND WHAT HARM DO THEY DO?
ANNIE

Sorry for absence...
by: Cid White

Sorry about my absence; holidays, school, work... all very pressing. I will post the other pictures soon (hopefully). And I've a new "bug" for you to look at, which I will also post soon (hopefully).
T'ankx all!

Photos of Two-striped Planthopper nymphs
by: Moni

Cid,
So glad we are getting close!

Just put the photos in like you did the original photos unless Doug says otherwise. If you want put a similar title saying follow-up or something like that.
Thanks
Moni

Thank you Moni!
by: Cid White

Wow! You are good! I have been searching for for information on this little critter since I first saw him. The "Nymphs (Acanalonia bivittata Nymphs)" group of photos is amazing... they are definately kin to my little critter. The ones with brownish bodies are very, very close... but none of them seems to have as much "fur" on the body as my 'critter'. How can I another photo or two to you?

?Plant or treehopper?
by: Moni

Cid
It would be good to see some of the other photos even if they are not as focused...sometimes a different angle helps. It is hard to see the critter, even when I zoom in on it.
Thank you for the WONDERFUL description! It helps a lot. From your description, it sounds like a hopper of some sort. They will "hide" from you. Since you mentioned it also raised it's tail it could be a young or immature true bug.
Most plant or treehoppers feed on plant leaves or stems. Only when the numbers are high or when they carry a disease are they an economic pest. Sounds like you did not see too many, so for that I would not worry.
Here is a web photo of the young or nymph stage of a treehopper that kind of looks like your photo. http://bugguide.net/node/view/196610/bgimage

Here are a couple more hopper possibilites:
http://bugguide.net/node/view/194117/bgimage
http://bugguide.net/node/view/137890/bgimage

here is a scale insect possiblity:
http://bugguide.net/node/view/5748
Let me know what you think? Do any look close?

Thank you Doug
by: Cid White

Yes, it is definately a tiny 'critter'! I do have one other relatively clear image from a different angle, if needed. I look forward to finding out what this is!
Cid CW

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White Furry insect on Peony pod (Hopper)