What’s eating my daisies? - Ask Extension
What is eating my daisies? The attached photos show the extent of damage to the leaves and flower. There is also some leaf eating on adjacent for...
Knowledgebase
What’s eating my daisies? #876084
Asked July 06, 2024, 10:52 AM EDT
What is eating my daisies? The attached photos show the extent of damage to the leaves and flower. There is also some leaf eating on adjacent forsythias. Daisies in other locations in the yard have not been affected like this.
Worcester County Maryland
Expert Response
We know that damage is frustrating.
Most likely culprits on the daisies are deer, groundhogs and rabbits. Deer have dull teeth and tend to grab and pull so the stems end up looking ragged. Rabbits have sharper teeth and the cuts tend to be clean.
Other chewing on plants in the yard could be a variety of insects, ranging from caterpillars, beetles, grasshoppers, katydids, crickets, earwigs, slugs and/or snails.
Some of these are nighttime feeders, so grab your flashlight/cellphone and check plants and leaf undersides after dark.
As dry as it's been we are even seeing some birds nibbling flower petals and the succulent leaves of some plants.
It's not unusual to have some ragged leaves in the summer- lots of life forms feeding right now. Songbirds need soft-bodied insects like caterpillars to raise their young.
Many of these insects are native insects that have long evolved with other native plants and are part of the healthy ecosystem- and their damage is primarily cosmetic. For that reason we wouldn't reach for pesticides, which can harm non-target organisms.
Christine
Most likely culprits on the daisies are deer, groundhogs and rabbits. Deer have dull teeth and tend to grab and pull so the stems end up looking ragged. Rabbits have sharper teeth and the cuts tend to be clean.
Other chewing on plants in the yard could be a variety of insects, ranging from caterpillars, beetles, grasshoppers, katydids, crickets, earwigs, slugs and/or snails.
Some of these are nighttime feeders, so grab your flashlight/cellphone and check plants and leaf undersides after dark.
As dry as it's been we are even seeing some birds nibbling flower petals and the succulent leaves of some plants.
It's not unusual to have some ragged leaves in the summer- lots of life forms feeding right now. Songbirds need soft-bodied insects like caterpillars to raise their young.
Many of these insects are native insects that have long evolved with other native plants and are part of the healthy ecosystem- and their damage is primarily cosmetic. For that reason we wouldn't reach for pesticides, which can harm non-target organisms.
Christine
