Pyracantas have dark-green foliage, white clusters of springtime flowers, and fruit that matures into clusters of shiny yellow, orange, or red berries. They also have exceedingly sharp, strong thorns form which the get their name (pyr=fire, acatna=thorn). Southern nurserymen grow 200,000 pyracanthas each year. Although they are not fraught with pests, it is not unusual to find some of the insects below on most pyracanthas.

KEY TO COMMON AND IMPORTANT PYRACANTHA PESTS

1. Aphids -Small, soft bodied insects sucking sap from twigs of pyracanthas, especially in the spring.

   1. Apple aphid -Green to yellow-green or yellow with dark cornicles and legs.

   2. Wolly apple aphid- White, waxy filaments covering small, dark aphids.

2. Hawthorne lace bug -Chlorotic spots on upper leaf surface, numerous dark spots of insect excrement on lower leaf surface; small, dark, spiny insects and slightly larger (3-mm), lacy insects with dark spots on wings.

3. Leaf crumpler - Groups of leaves webbed together into a small, roughly globular shape; small, pruplish, caterpillar inside webbing.