CSIRO. - Pests, diseases and beneficials friends and foes of Australian gardens

F. David Hockings AM FD Hockings 2014 All rights reserved. Except under the conditions described in the Australian Copyright Act 1968 and subsequent amendments, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, duplicating or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. Contact CSIRO PUBLISHING for all permission requests. National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry Hockings, F. (Francis David) author. (Francis David) author.

Pests, diseases and beneficials : friends and foes of Australian gardens/by F. David Hockings. 9781486300211 (paperback) 9781486300228 (epdf) 9781486300235 (epub) Includes index. Garden ecology Australia. Plant diseases Environmental aspects Australia. Beneficial insects Environmental aspects Australia.

Garden pests Environmental aspects Australia. 632.0994 Published by CSIRO PUBLISHING 150 Oxford Street (PO Box 1139) Collingwood VIC 3066 Australia Telephone: +61 3 9662 7666 Local call: 1300 788 000 (Australia only) Fax: +61 3 9662 7555 Email: publishing.sales@csiro.au Website: www.publish.csiro.au Front cover: Hibiscus caterpillar (top), bacterial spot on Brunsfelsia (middle), brown predatory bug (bottom) Back cover: Bees in flowers (left), bronze orange bug (right) Set in Palatino 11/14 and Myriad Pro Edited by Joy Window Cover and text design by Andrew Weatherill Typeset by Desktop Concepts Pty Ltd, Melbourne Index by Indexicana Printed in China by 1010 Printing International Ltd CSIRO PUBLISHING publishes and distributes scientific, technical and health science books, magazines and journals from Australia to a worldwide audience and conducts these activities autonomously from the research activities of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). The views expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent those of, and should not be attributed to, the publisher or CSIRO. The copyright owner shall not be liable for technical or other errors or omissions contained herein. The reader/user accepts all risks and responsibility for losses, damages, costs and other consequences resulting directly or indirectly from using this information. Original print edition: The paper this book is printed on is in accordance with the rules of the Forest Stewardship Council.

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First I acknowledge my mentor, Percy Francis Hockings a strange relative (great grandfathers nephew), who was an architect of some note, artist and Shakespearian scholar. He became disillusioned with society, fled, first to Fiji, then Captain Cooks Possession Island off the tip of Cape York, Queensland, Celebes, finally in 1912 becoming curator of the Hockings Museum on Thursday Island, Queensland. When I was a child, anything of interest the family members found (animal, mineral, vegetable) went to Uncle Percy and later he would send a painting and anything he could find out about it. It was a wonderful way to grow up with a mind enquiring What is it? and What does it do? which is the basis of this book. I reiterate the acknowledgements in the first edition, of now past colleagues in the Department of Primary Industries (DPI) Brian Cantrell, Ken Houston, John Alcorn, John Donaldson and Ian Galloway who greatly assisted with identification of many specimens.

I also acknowledge Lance Warrell and Merv Whitehouse of the DPI Soil Chemistry Laboratory, who patiently enlightened me about the world of soil chemistry, plant nutrition and physiological disorders, Ian Hughes, Plant Pathologist, the master of plant problem diagnosis and Bob Colbran, Nematologist, who introduced me to the world around the roots of plants. I am deeply indebted to my wonderful family for their encouragement and assistance with preparation of this manuscript. I acknowledge my wife, Olive, for support and proofreading, and in particular my daughter, Cecily, and son-inlaw, John Daniels, for their extensive help with the computer and the solving of photographic problems of scanning, storage and retrieval. Cecily has been a tower of strength through a major health crisis. Daughter Lindy I particularly thank for very capably helping out with drawings when photographic subjects were not immediately available; and my son, Colin, for his help in locating difficult photograph subjects. Finally I acknowledge Bill Mollineux for his patience and persistence, which ensured that finally the manuscript was completed.

Photographic/art credits: Bob Luttrell 189c, 191b, 192 Olive Hockings 113, 231, 342 Lindy Wieland 123c, 237, 259, 274, 328b, 328c Colin Hockings 193b, 193c, 283a, 327, 344 John Daniels 368 Percy Hockings 65a

I was inspired to write this book in the 1960s with the evolution and elevation of gardening to amenity horticulture, the advent of television (at first only black and white) and the beginning of the development of modern pesticides, which replaced nicotine sulphate, arsenate of lead, kerosene and soft soap, and Bordeaux spray, then the main preparations in use. On 2 January 1960 I began an appointment with the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Stock (later to become DPI). The then Director of Horticulture, Dr Sandy Trout, had the far-sighted idea that ornamental plants would become an important industry, and it was because I had a botanical bent towards plants that I was appointed for this aim. The appointment was strongly resented by the other branches of the department (due to competition for funding) and I was occasionally approached by other branch officers and told off in severe terms. Garden clubs, horticultural societies and more specific organisations such as orchid societies were flourishing and speakers were in high demand. It came about that I shared a stage with a highly respected garden commentator who, when presented with some much chewed azalea leaves, announced with authority that this was the result of severe lace bug attack.

As bugs have piercing and sucking mouthparts, they cannot take even the tiniest bite out of a leaf. I was hard pressed to sit calmly. This general lack of basic understanding was quite obvious in the television programs of the time, with presenters continually recommending the magic new pesticide Rogor for fungal, pest and all other plant disorders. Quite obviously the professionals of the day, as well as the gardening public, were struggling to understand, identify and classify the many small garden creatures. Containers of pesticides and their advertising did not differentiate between pests, harmless or beneficial creatures the attitude was if it moves, spray it. I committed myself to doing something about this.

In this book I have attempted to provide illustrations of a comprehensive cross-section of the various small creatures that can be found in the average garden, to serve as a general guide to all garden and plant situations everywhere. Equivalent species with similar life cycles and feeding habits occur throughout this country and with, in some cases, climatic modifications, also in overseas countries. In order to examine and identify small animals, a magnifying glass (10 or 20) is essential. The small mites, such as the broad mite, cyclamen mite and brevipalpid mite, require 20. For easy reference I have attempted to group creatures according to where on plants or in the surroundings they are most likely to be encountered: leaves and shoots, stems, trunks, soil, compost, and so on. Unfortunate and confusing colloquialisms such as referring to all small creatures as bugs or using the term worms for worms, caterpillars and maggots, has largely been avoided.