With their showy and fragrant flowers, roses are often used in North Carolina landscapes. Roses as cut flowers are appropriate for any occasion. Fraught with insect, mite, and fungal pests, the challenge of growing a nice-looking rosebush has been euphemistically described as "interesting." About 350,000 roses are handled by Southern nurserymen each year.

KEY TO COMMON AND IMPORTANT ROSE PESTS

1. Beetles -Rose petals or leaves consumed by beetles

   1. Fuller rose beetle -Light-brown to ash-gray beetle with a short snout and a faint white band on each side feeds on leaf margins at night.
   2. Japanese beetle -Beetle metallic green with brown wing covers and white spots on side, chunky.
   3. Rose chafer -Beetle buff, fairly slender.

2. Flower thrips -Petals distorted and spotted, buds not opening properly; very small, slender, yellowish insects crawling in buds and petals.

3. Rose aphid -Small (0.5- to 3-mm), soft, pink or green insects often found in clusters on twigs and buds, where they suck sap from the plant.

4. Spider mites- Small chlorotic spots on leaf surface; heavily infested leaves dropping prematurely; tiny, spiderlike animals (spider mites) on lower leaf surface.

   1. Southern red mite -Mites prevalent in spring or fall, usually dark red with pale legs.
   2. Twospotted spider mite -Mites prevalent in hot weather, usually pale yellow but sometimes green, brown, or red.

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