VORACIOUS BUG FEASTS ON LEAVES.

Gardeners beware! There is a bug called a leafminer at large that can cause serious injury to plants by destroying leaf tissue, cautions entomologist Dale Pollet, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge. Leafminers and other insects harmful to vegetation seem to appear in hordes, almost overnight. "Dry weather conditions, along with the heat stress on many plants, make us try to compensate by watering them, and that provides a windfall food source....

"The eggs are deposited in the leaf tissue, and the hatching larva feeds between the upper and lower surface of the leaf. creating a mine or gallery, which gives this pest its name. As the larva matures, the mine gets wider and longer. In some cases, it appears swollen."

With heavy infestations, controls are necessary. These pests are managed by killing the adults on emergence and preventing egg deposits or re-infestation. What is used depends on individual needs. "PH [the ratio of acidity to alkalinity] is critical when you try to control a pest like this because it is imperative that the material is available when the pest is there. PH should be between 5.5 and 6.5, otherwise the material will be short-lived and have little to no...