Snails, Slugs & Grasshoppers

Various species

  1. Symptoms: Slugs and snails (picture at left) can feed on the endosperm of germinating seed, bite seedlings off at ground level, and graze older plants, chewing longitudinal stripes on the leaves (middle picture). This gives the adult plant a frayed appearance. Grasshoppers (picture at right) and crickets cause damage that is very similar to that caused by cutworms and armyworms.
  2. Hosts/Distribution: All these insects will attack a large range of plant species, including the cereals.
  3. Distribution: Worldwide.
  4. Importance: These pests are usually localized in their distribution, but can cause a great deal of damage to individual stands of wheat.

Slugs and snails Slugs and snails Grasshopper