Insect
control on aphids, also known as greenflies or whiteflies, are small
sap sucking insects from the family
aphidoidea.
Aphids
are
destructive insect on chilli pepper plants in many regions.
Chilli peppers plant displaying aphid damage
can have few symptoms, such as curled leaves, yellowish or brownish in
colour.
Poor sap health of the plant due to aphid saliva is a toxic to
it. Aphids also transmit disease-causing organisms like plant viruses.
Due to high damage to the crops, extreme measures has been taken and
efforts being carried outto control the of aphids attack.
Insect control natural enemies includes beetle bug, hoverfly larvae
(Syrphidae), parasitic wasps, crab spiders lacewings (Chrysopidae), and
fungi like Entomophthorales.
Tips:
This involves using a natural predator such as lacewings to
control the population of aphids.
The predator is introduced as eggs or
larvae which then develop by eating aphids, bringing down aphid
population.
The adult lacewings survive on pollen. Plant corn plant
near to your chilli farm. 
These will attract the lady bug. When there
signs of aphids on your chilli thiese lady bug will exterminate them
for you by eating them up.
Insecticides that can be used to control aphids:
Options
a) Insect control mixture ( To be sprayed on the
chilli tree)
- 1 litre of water + 10 ml liquid
detergent + 50 ml neem oil and add to
10 litre of water.
b) Mixture of Effective Microb + molasess + one clove grinded
garlic
and 3
dried chilli (Chilli padi), Bamboo
leaf, tamarind and aloe vera
- Marinade for 5 days.
-
usage : spray for every 2 days.
Integrated pest management of various species of aphids can be
achieved
using biological insecticides based on microbes such as Beauveria
bassiana or Paecilomyces fumosoroseus
Control for Thrips
Small insects with a cyclinder cigar shaped. They range in
size from
0.5 to 14 millimetres in length for the larger predatory thrips, but
most thrips are approximately a millimeter in length.
Flight-capable
thrips have two similar, strap-like, pairs of wings with a ciliated
fringe, from which the order derives its name.
Their legs usually end
in two tarsal segments with an bladder-like structure known as an
arolium at the pretarsus. This structure can be everted by means of
hemolymph pressure, enabling the insect to walk on vertical
surfaces.
Insect control measures:
Due to their small size and high rate of reproduction, thrips are
difficult to control using classical biological control.
All predators
must be small and slender enough to penetrate the crevices that thrips
hide in while feeding.
These sometime makes it impossible to control
their attcks. For myself I used combination of rice water ang EM
(effective microb). I don't sure how it works but this can regenerate
back the chilli tree and control the thrips population.
Spray the
mixture of rice water and EM on the attacked chilli tree once every day
until you see the tree is showing positive sign of
regeneration.
Insect Control for Whitefly
Insect control on whitefly
Whiteflies can transmit or spread viruses through direct feeding.
Diseases such as bemisia tabaci and B. argentifolii, transmit African
cassava mosaic, bean golden mosaic, bean dwarf mosaic, bean calico
mosaic, tomato yellow leaf-curl, tomato mottle, and other
Begomoviruses. The common symtoms are the leaf curl and yellowish in
colour.
Insect control whitefly is also difficult and complex as whiteflies
rapidly gain resistance to chemical pesticides.
It is recommended to
use an integrated program that focuses on prevention and relies on
cultural and biological control methods when possible. Initial
pesticide application may be necessary to control heavy infestations.
Nevertheless repeated applications may lead to strains of whiteflies
that are resistant to pesticides. So only use of selective insecticides
differently every time is advised. Rotation of insecticides from
different type may be effective at preventing the building of tolerance
to the pesticide.
For example: Day one-Use insecticide A. Day 2-Use
insecticide B and so on. For me I only used the organic insecticide
which I explained earlier. Yes the same one to control the Aphids,
Thrips. It really works.
The tips is to spray your chilli every 3 days.
Insect control care should be taken to ensure that the insecticide used
will not kill the whiteflies' natural predators.
For effective use of
biological method after application of pesticide, plant washing is
advised prior to release of predators or parasitoids such as the liquid
soap. Heck you can even use Pantene.
I understand that these soap
liquid will block the insect breathing system and they eventually die
of suffocation. Chemical pesticides used for whiteflies control are neonicotinoids.
Products containing neonicotinoid compounds have one of these four
active ingredients: clothianidin (commercial), dinotefuran (over the
counter and commercial), imidacloprid (over the counter and commercial)
and thiamethoxam (commercial). Neocotinoids can be harmful if ingested.
Spraying the leaves using safer-soap following manufacturer
instructions is one option. Whiteflies are also attracted by the color
yellow so yellow sticky paper can serve as traps to monitor
infestations.
The dead leaves or leaves that have been mostly eaten by
whiteflies are to be removed and burned or carefully placed in closed
bins to avoid reinfestation and spreading of the disease.
Several natural predators may be effective in controlling whiteflies.
It should be noted that not all such predators are equally effective at
controlling the different types of whiteflies, or equally effective
outdoors as well as under controlled conditions, such as in green
houses. These predators include green lacewings, ladybirds, bugs,
minute pirate bugs, big eyed bugs, and damsel bugs.
Natural white fly predators
Green lacewings larvae will attack whiteflies as well as other pests
including aphids, mealybugs, spider mites, leafhopper nymphs, moth
eggs, scales and thrips.
They also can attack other insects including
caterpillars. They are available in the form of eggs from commercial
insectaries and will stay in a larval stage after they hatch for 1 to 3
weeks.
The adult insects can fly and will feed only on pollen, honey
and nectar to reproduce. Repeated application may be necessary and the
eggs could be eaten before they hatch by their natural predators, such
as ants or mature green lacewings.
Ladybirds, or lady bugs or beetles bug, mainly by colonials, also have
a healthy appetite. They eat mostly insect eggs, but will eat as well
beetle larvae, scale crawlers and young caterpillars.
Insect control for your chilli peppers plants