The sunflower , with its tall stalks and distinctive yellow and black bloom , is a drought - liberal industrial plant with a short summer grow season . The beauty of the sunflower is appealing not only to mass but insect pests that eat leafage , beginning and bloom of the plant . Cultural control and applying chemicals can keep your sunflower from being deplete .

Beetles and Weevils

Beetles and weevil are among the insects that in the first place bung on the roots and stems of the sunflower flora . The cultivated carrot and longhorned beetle stick eggs on or near the sunflower plant ; the larva hatch during the growing season and hold up themselves by eat the lower part of the plant . The flea mallet also eats helianthus plant , but feeds on the leaves and seedlings of the plant . Wilting and irregular hole on the helianthus leave can indicate a mallet infestation . weevil vary in size of it and colouring material , deposit eggs in the pass of the plant and feed on the radical and folio tissue of the sunflowers . break of the flora and root social organisation can be a sign of weevil presence . Tilling the land well to reject larva that has not yet damage the sunflowers can be a non - toxic control method acting . Chlorpyrifos - based pesticide may also be needed , depending on the level of infestation .

Moths

Moths eat helianthus works as well as mallet and weevils . The helianthus moth feeds on the head and seedlings of the plant , while the sunflower bud moth damages the theme and unopened bud of the flora . moth leave a sticky , webbed occupy on the industrial plant as well as holes that indicate its feeding itinerary . Larvae that provender on sunflowers can lead to stems that are misshapen , and the scrawny development of the head of the flower . innate housing using pheromones can see to it the sunflower and sunflower bud moth universe . insecticide containing the chemical phytomelanin may also be reckon for management .

Crawlers

Sunflowers can leave an ample meal for a identification number of wiggling , crawl pests , including maggots , Caterpillar and USA worm . paint gentlewoman and woollybear caterpillar can render significant defoliation of the helianthus plant life as they munch their path through the leaves and flowers of the plants . Green US Army dirt ball and cutworms are also major offender of sunflower and leave ragged holes or " windows " in the leaves . Windows are transparent areas on the leafage that occur when the larvae or unseasoned stage of the fauna lead off to feast on the helianthus but are not large enough to jab a kettle of fish through the full leafage . The menace of defoliation to at least 1/4 of the industrial plant ’s Earth’s surface or the entire harvest usually warrant using a chemic control against crawling pests .

Grasshoppers

hopper eat on sunflower plants but generally do not do as much damage as other dirt ball pest . Grasshoppers can be hand clean off of the plant when the population is small . Larger infestations may require chemic controls to prevent the untested nymphs from migrating to neighboring fields or gardens . Beta - cyfluthrin and acephate are two non - restricted chemical substance controls that you could expend in non - crop areas to manage grasshopper on sunflower works .

…