Whiteflies are the proper name for those tiny little, gnat-like, delicate flies that swarm off of plants like tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, grapes when you touch the leaves. They are located on the undersides of the leaves (as most bugs are) and fly off of the leaves when they are disturbed.
They like the heat of the summer. They don't particularly like the cooler spring and fall
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| Whiteflies, most likely ash whitefly, on pomegranate |
months. Whiteflies suck the juices out of plants in much the same way aphids, scale insects and mealybugs do. Because they suck plant juices by tapping into the plant with their mouthparts they poop out sugary excrement that attracts ants.
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| Yellow sticky traps can be made with bright yellow paper or paint and a sticky surface like vaseline |
You can use yellow sticky cards hung in the garden area to trap some of them but if there are loads of them you all have to spray. Try insecticidal soap first and see if you can reduce their numbers with that. If that doesn't work, try pyrethrins sprays to see if you can get some control that way.
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