7 Plants That Are Actually Attracting Unwanted Bugs

The same plants that we love to grow in our vegetable gardens are irresistible to many pests, too. But that doesn’t mean you have to give up growing your favorite edibles and ornamentals. Being aware of what plants draw in common garden pests can help you outsmart these hungry, uninvited guests.

First, get into the habit of inspecting your plants on a regular basis so you can catch infestations early on when they’re easier to control. “Look for signs and symptoms that something isn’t right,” says Rafia Khan, PhD, assistant professor and extension entomologist at Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center. “Sometimes you’ll notice the damage to the plants before you see the pests themselves.”

Khan says signs that of an infestation include:

• Chewed leaves, stems, blossoms, or fruit
• Skeletonized leaves
• Wilted, discolored, spotted or dried-out foliage
• Shed skins, fecal matter or tiny eggs
• Holes in fruits or stems
• Sudden wilting of a plant
• Accumulation of a sticky residue, known as honeydew, and black mold on leaves
• Lots of ant activity, due to the presence of honeydew

Seeing a few pests isn’t reason to panic, “Most healthy plants can tolerate some degree of insect damage and still yield fruit,” says Eric Day, entomologist and director of the Insect Identification Lab at Virginia Tech. “But if you have stunted growth or poor fruit set, you need to take action. You should also get a positive identification so you know what pest you’re dealing with.” If you aren’t sure what kind of insect it is, your local university coop extension service (find yours here) can help with accurate identification and management techniques.

Ahead, the most common plants that attracted unwanted bugs to your garden, according to Khan and Day:

Cabbage And Leafy Greens

Cabbage and other brassicas, such as kale, mustard and collards, often attract caterpillars such as:

Diamond back mothswhich feed on all plant parts but prefer the underside of older leaves or leaves, loose leaves and buds, leaving small holes.

Cabbage loopers feed on leaf undersides, creating windowpane patterns, while later larval stages chew holes or bore into cabbage heads, causing stunted growth or failure to form a head.

Slugs and snails create large, irregular holes with smooth edges in foliage, typically located between the veins of leaves. You’ll also see slimy trails. Snails especially like calcium-rich brassicas, which helps form their shells.

Squash And Cucumbers

Cucurbits such as squash including summer squash, zucchini, winter squash, cucumbers, and pumpkins may attract:

Cucumber beetles can cause extensive damage because every life stage feeds on the plant. Adults feed on seedlings and chew holes in leaves and flowers, while larvae feed on plant roots. They also spread bacterial wilt, which causes the plant to die suddenly.

Squash vine borers kill almost every plant they infest. The larvae chew holes in the stems, causing the plant to wilt suddenly and die. You also may see frass, a sawdust-like material near holes.

Squash bugs leave white stipples, or dots, on foliage, followed by yellowing leaves. You also may see sunken, rotting areas on fruit, especially on pumpkins.

Beans

All types of beans may invite pests such as:

Mexican bean beetle larvae and adults feed on the underside of leaves, skeletonizing leaves and reducing yield when defoliation is more than 20 percent. Adults also feed on blossoms, pods and stems.

Spider mites cause yellow mottled leaves and reduced vigor. The telltale webbing is another sign that you have an infestation.

Tomatoes

Tomatoes often attract pests such as:

Tomato and tobacco hornworm caterpillars, which are two different species that both damage tomatoes, feed on the leaves, fruit and stems. The full-grown caterpillar does most of the damagestripping away leaves and fruit.

Cutworms often sever plants at the soil line, especially young seedlings, causing a complete loss of the plants.

Aphids appear in large numbers on plants, causing deformed and stunted growth and a build up of sooty mold, a type of fungus.

Potatoes

Potatoes may attract pests such as:

Colorado potato beetle feeds on foliage in both the adult and larval stages. They can clip off emerging potato shoots at ground level and defoliate the host plant, causing reduced yield.

Corn

Corn almost always attracts pests such as:

Corn earworm larvae feed on the tassels, silks, and kernels often near the tip of a corn ear. You’ll find just one per ear because they are cannibalistic and consume any other hatchlings.

Eggplant

Eggplants almost always attracts pests such as:

Flea beetles feed continuously from the beginning to the end of the growing season. You’ll see tiny holes chewed in plant leaves, with seedings particularly affected. The adults will jump off, like a flea, when plants are disturbed.