Potato Tuber Moth

Tomato/Potato psyllid (Bactericera cockerelli) is a devastating pest of potato and tomato crops. A sucking pest whose feeding on foliage causes yellowing, purpling and cupping of leaves, stunting of plants and reduces yields. The pysllid can also transmit Liberibactor, a bacterium like organism that affects the internal vascular transport system of plants. This negatively disrupts potato tuber quality often resulting in the “zebra chip” effect in processing potatoes.

Onion thrips (Thrips tabaci) is the most serious pest of onion crops in New Zealand. Their rasping feeding causes whitening of leaves which reduces yields. However their presence in the necks of harvested bulbs and subsequent feeding damage in storage can lead to rots in storage in export shipments. The adults are small, a black colour and are winged. The larvae which cause the plant damage are thin and a white to yellow colour and are usually found in the necks of onion plants.