There are spiders all over my yard. Odd, small colorful ones with somewhat square bodies and tiny legs. They don't really seem to harm the fruit(except for damaging some flower clusters in my mango trees)...it's just a real pain to get around my yard while trying to avoid getting "caught" in their webs.
The bugs I know I need to watch out for are aphids, ants, mealy bugs, and caterpillars. I see caterpillars quite often, but simply pick them off, so that isn't a big issue. However, if there is a spray that will prevent butterflies from landing on my trees in the first place, that would be great.
Now, I have a few different trees, so I'm not sure if one spray works for all. Any help is appreciated..
-Citrus- my primary concern.. They have lots of leaf miner damage and have lost a few trees to greening(transmitted by insects).
-Mango trees - I use a combination Liquid Copper Fungicide and Sulfur to control anthracnose and powdery mildew. They don't have many bugs bothering them other than the above mentioned spiders. I've rarely sprayed them with anything to try and kill the spiders, but it hasn't worked.
-Sapodilla/zapote/nispero trees- both are crawling with ants! I blast them with some water every other day. Oh, and they had several of these insects on them:
Any idea what they are? Friend or Foe?
-Jaboticaba trees- trouble free
-Banana trees- trouble free
-Fig tree- occasional leaf rust...some tiny bugs stuck on the fruit themselves sometimes, but not often. Usually pretty trouble free.
-Atemoya tree- leaf damage.. something is eating some of the older leaves. I have yet to spot the culprit
-Avocado tree- trouble free
-Cacao- same as 'atemoya'
I also have a piper nigrum vine that has been relatively trouble free. Some leaf damage, but not much.
TX.. I have never used systemic insecticide since I don't think they are good for tropicals, but I would love to see the info. My fruit trees are listed above.