Piercing and Sucking Insect

piercing and sucking insect pest? what are piercing and sucking pests? to understand what is piercing and sucking insects, we must first understand what are insects.

Piercing and sucking pest insects can also be endo or ectoparasites. an insect is a group of flying or crawling organisms that possess six legs and are divided into three compartments.

These pests can cause damage to a wide variety of crops by reducing plant vigour, transmitting plant diseases, and causing deformities

Here are some examples of piercing and sucking pest insects:

  1. Aphids (Aphidoidea):
    • Aphids are small, soft-bodied insects with piercing-sucking mouthparts. They feed on the sap of a wide range of plants, causing damage by removing vital nutrients and secreting honeydew, which can attract mould. Aphids can transmit plant viruses.
  2. Whiteflies (Aleyrodidae):
    • Whiteflies are small, winged insects that feed on the sap of plants. They are named for their powdery, white appearance. Whiteflies can damage plants directly through feeding and indirectly by transmitting plant viruses.
  3. Scale Insects (Coccoidea):
    • Scale insects have a protective scale-like covering and feed on plant sap. They can be found on leaves, stems, and branches. Scales can weaken plants and cause yellowing or wilting.
  4. Leafhoppers (Cicadellidae):
    • Leafhoppers are small, wedge-shaped insects that feed on plant sap. They can transmit plant pathogens while feeding. Some leafhoppers are known to cause damage to crops like grapes and potatoes.
  5. Mealybugs (Pseudococcidae):
    • Mealybugs are soft-bodied insects covered in a waxy, powdery substance. They feed on plant sap and can cause damage by reducing plant vigour and transmitting plant diseases.
  6. Spider Mites (Tetranychidae):
    • Spider mites are tiny arachnids that feed on plant sap by puncturing plant cells. They are known for creating fine webs on the plant surface. Spider mite feeding can cause stippling, yellowing, and necrosis of leaves.
  7. Thrips (Thripidae):
    • Thrips are slender insects with fringed wings. They feed on plant sap and can cause damage by scraping and puncturing plant tissues. Thrips can transmit plant viruses and cause distortions in plant growth.
  8. Cicadas (Cicadidae):
    • Cicadas have piercing-sucking mouthparts and feed on plant sap from xylem tissues. While most cicadas are not considered major pests, some species can cause damage to trees and shrubs.
  9. Psyllids (Psyllidae):
    • Psyllids are small insects that feed on plant sap. They can cause damage directly through feeding and indirectly by transmitting plant pathogens. Some psyllids are associated with diseases like citrus greening.
  10. Planthoppers (Fulgoroidea):
    • Planthoppers are insects with various feeding habits, including piercing-sucking mouthparts. They can damage plants by feeding on sap and transmitting plant diseases.

Controlling piercing and sucking pest insects often involves integrated pest management (IPM) strategies, including the use of beneficial insects, insecticidal soaps, neem oil, and chemical insecticides when necessary.

 an insect is divided into three parts, these various parts of a typical insect are

  1. head
  2. thorax
  3. abdomen

the thorax part of a typical insect houses the legs  and wings used for walking and flying

example of piercing and sucking insect

this type of insect pest can be known as a pest that destroys crops or animals within the farm

what are piercing and sucking pest

piercing and sucking insect pests are those types of insects that possess mouth parts that are used for sucking. The mouth parts of sucking insects are developed for piercing and sucking fluids. These pests damage plants by inserting their mouth parts into plant tissue and removing juices.

the mouth parts of a piercing insect are well adapted for piercing through the skins of other organisms for the sole purpose of sucking either fruit juice or the blood of animals for feeding. an example of this type of organism is the mosquito and house fly. In the next paragraph, we will be looking into the nature and parts of these piercing and sucking insects of crops.

Sucking Insect Pestโ€™s mouth

The mouth parts of these insects are shaped like injection needles and are thus adapted to piercing (that is penetrating the plant part) and sucking (that is removing plant fluid). read more about holozoic mechanisms and mode of feeding here

here is my post on biting and chewing insects
you can also read more here on insects

The effect of piercing and sucking insect pests of crop

These piercing and sucking habits of the insects lead to] the destruction of plant tissues, the development of holes through which disease organisms can enter the plant system and the transfer of harmful germs from diseased plants to healthy ones. All these lead to the weakening and eventual death of the plants affected.

Examples of Piercing and sucking insect pest

Good examples of insect pests are aphids (plant lice), cotton stainer, mealy bugs, capsid bugs, and scale insects

Boring insect Pests types of ectoparasites

These are insects that bore into plant tissues and seeds, kamples are stem borers of cereals and weevils such as beans, rice M maize weevils.

Other insect pests which may not fall into the above groups have been found to affect crops. An example is the weaving insect which causes the folding of the leaves of crops particularly vegetables.

list of piercing and sucking insect pests of crops and how they affect crops

1.  Stem borer Sesamia spp. is a typical example of a piercing and sucking insect. this type of insect attacks the following crops and plants Cereals e.g. rice, maize sorghum Pest eats up the juicy centres of stems thus causing the crop to collapse and die Burn all crop remains in the farm after harvest, uproot and burn affected crops. Spray with gammalin 20 or DDT

3 Ear Worms Maize.   the maize earworm is another example of a piercing and sucking pest of the crop. The larvae of this insect bore into the corn cobs or ears of maize thereby eating up the fresh grains. 

to prevent the spread of this insect pest on crops,

Early planting of maize and the use of spray with gammalin 20 or DDT should be carried out on the far

4 Aphids Cocoa, groundnut, cowpea This is a type of piercing and sucking insect. They bite and pierce through the outer texture of growing plants, Sucking out the sap and leading to stunting, distortion and defoliation in affected plants Spray affected crops with insecticides

5.  Pod Borers insect pest (Maruca tesulalis) of Legumes e.g. Cowpea Pod Borers insect pest causes damage to the tender parts of the plants, by eating up the flower buds and pods. This leads to a reduction in yield. Plant with resistant varieties. Spray with gammalin 20 or diagram.

roles of government in agriculture

6 Variegated Grasshopper (Zonocerus variegates) Yam, vegetables, rice, cassava, etc another typical example of piercing and sucking insect pests of the crop which Eats up the leaves of plants.

Growing plants and stems may be eaten too

to deal with the attack of this piercing and sucking insect, Spray with gammalin 20 or Vetox 85

(Heteroligus miles) Yam Feeds on tubers of yams in the soil causing holes in them Dust yam planting materials with Aldrin dust before planting.

8 Cassava mealy bug (phenacoccus Manihoti) Cassava piercing and sucking insect attacks cassava plant.

Affected plants become stunted since the internodes are reduced. The tip begins to develop bunchy tops, the leaves die off finally, and the whole plant looks like a candle stick.

Planting early is key to curbing the spread of this insect pest on the farm. you can also Dip cassava cuttings in 0.1% Rogor or ultrawide solution for 1 minute before planting. read about animal diseases and parasites here

9 Capsids Cocoa piercing and sucking insect pest of the crop. The insect attacks young shoots of cocoa trees and introduces toxic saliva into the plant. This saliva that is introduced kills the plant. the best way to prevent this from happening is to Spray with gammalin 

  Cotton stainer (Dysdercus superstitious) Cotton is a type of piercing-sucking insect that Attacks opening cotton pods thus staining the lint and disfiguring it Spray with the right insecticide, you can read about crop pest here in detail

11, maize and beans are a type of piercing and sucking pest Eat up the cotyledons of stored products. Spraying the stored produce with the right insecticide will kill off the insectโ€™s Fruits worm piercing and sucking insect is a typical insect whose  larva eats up ripe fruits   the best way to deal with these special fruit worms is to Spray with vetox insecticide

13 Termites of  Oil palm, cassava, sugar cane, yam, etc. This is a type of piercing and sucking insect which destroys roots and seedlings of plants especially when young, it is very important and advisable to Spray with Aldrex 40.

Water crops regularly in the dry season during the early days of the plant life

14 Boll piercing, sucking insect of worms Cotton.

This type of piercing insect eats up succulent cotton bolls.

Bolls drop off prematurely. 

the best way to prevent the spread of this insect is to Pick and burn affected cotton bolls.

Donโ€™t forget to always Spray with the right insecticides

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