Insect, Plant & Disease ID

Lara Miller

Natural
Resource Agent

Identification
Resources:

Insects, Plants, &
Diseases

Many Florida residents find unknown plants
growing in their yard, unknown bugs in their houses or gardens, and apparent
diseases on what were previously healthy plants. So what resources are out
there to help you turn the unknown into known?

Extension Offices

Your local Extension office should be your first point of contact for helping you
identify any mysterious problems or species in your home or yard. You can call,
e-mail, or visit the office in person.

Lawn and Garden Help

We offer walk-in Lawn and Garden Help Desk
services at the following locations:

·        
Pinellas County Extension Office

12520 Ulmerton Rd., Largo, FL 33774

Walk-In Hours: Mon-Fri 8am-5pm (excluding holidays)

·        
Pinellas County Master Gardener Plant Clinic

Palm Harbor Library

2330 Nebraska Ave., Palm Harbor, FL 34683

Wednesdays from 10am-2pm, January through mid-November

Lawn and Garden Help Line

Lawn & Garden
assistance is also available by phone at (727)582-2100 and then Press 1.

Hours of Operation: Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday

9am-12pm and 1pm-4pm

When you do, have or send the following:

·        
Photographs (digital or
snapshot) or a physical sample if you are making an in-person visit.

·        
As detailed a
description of the organism or disease symptom as possible (e.g., where and
when you saw it, behavior, any others present, how long it has been occurring,
the type of damage).

Even if your county
Extension office cannot make the identification
or disease diagnosis, the agents will be able to help you with forms and
samples to send to UF/IFAS's diagnostic laboratories.

Insects

There are thousands of insects in Florida, and
knowing whether the one you found is harmless, beneficial, or damaging is key
for deciding on control measures. The Insect ID Lab can analyze insect samples
sent by Florida residents. The Help Desk can provide answers or information on
preparing a sample to send to the Insect ID Lab. The lab will charge $8 per
sample sent.

Send samples in a crush-proof container with the
accompanying submission form (205KB pdf).
Sending samples in flat or padded envelopes is discouraged.

Collecting a Sample

1)   
The more specimens
included in a sample, the better.

2)    In most cases, you should kill and preserve the insects before
sending them.

a.   
Do this by placing them
in the freezer or in a vial with rubbing alcohol.

                                         
i.    Caterpillars will not preserve well in an alcohol solution. Moths and
butterflies should be kept dry.

b.   
Take special care if you
believe the insect could be a new or exotic species.

Contact your Extension office or read the submission
guide for more details.

Plants

You can either bring in a physical specimen of
the plant (or blossom, leaf, etc.) or a photograph to the Help Desk. Multiple
photographs are best, with pictures of leaves, bark or stem, blossoms, seed
pods, as well as the whole plant itself.

In addition to the pictures or sample, pass
along as much additional information as possible:

·        
Size and shape of plant,
leaves, blossoms, seeds.

·        
Growth habit and
location.

·        
Conditions in location
(e.g., sun, soil type and moisture, cultivated or forested area).

·        
Colors of plant and
blossoms.

If the Extension agent or Master Gardener cannot
make an identification, they will send a sample to the UF Herbarium. All identification samples sent to the herbarium must first go
through your county Extension agent, but the herbarium does offer an online database where Florida
residents can look at images of plants in the collection.

Diseases

UF/IFAS Extension offers multiple plant
diagnostic clinics and labs, which make up the Florida Plant Diagnostic
Network. These diagnostic clinics use living-plant samples to make disease
diagnoses.

An important note: once a plant is dead, our Extension professionals are unable
to make a disease diagnosis. Harmful fungi and bacteria are present in all
Florida soils, and many secondary bacteria and fungi will start to grow on a
dead plant. These two factors make it impossible to determine what, if any,
disease killed a plant.

Contact your county's Extension
office for help and information on preparing a
plant or turf sample to send to a diagnostic lab. The lab will charge $40 per
sample sent. (Certain disease tests are no charge.)

Send properly packaged samples with the
accompanying submission form (149KB pdf).

Sometimes what you believe may be a disease is
only a nutrient deficiency. Your local Extension agent can advise you if it
would be worth testing your soil before doing a disease analysis. (Find more
information from the Extension Soil Testing Laboratory.)

Collecting a Sample

General guidelines include:

·        
Take samples before
applying pesticides.

·        
Make sure samples are
living (green).

·        
Include a large amount
of plant material that covers the range of the symptoms.

·        
Do not mix different
samples in the same submission bag.

Contact your Extension office and read the submission
guide for more details.

Other Identifications

UF/IFAS Extension offices are your source
for answers to your questions and solutions for your life. Wildlife was not
covered in this guide, but any identification questions or problems you have
can be answered by our offices if you give them enough information.

An e-mail, telephone call, or visit to your local
Extension office is your first step in
identifying any plants, pests, animals, problems, or curiosities you encounter.

Adapted and excerpted from:

L. Buss, Insect Identification Service (RFSR010), Entomology and Nematology Department (rev. 3/2010).

N. Williams, Plant Identification and Information Service (RFSR013), Extension
Administration Office (rev. 12/2011).

A. Palmateer, et al, Sample Submission Guide for Plant Diagnostic Clinics of the
Florida Plant Diagnostic Network (RFSR007), Plant Pathology Department (rev. 9/2012).