You can buy pesticide sprays for the two insects that many commonly mist fig trees, the driedfruit beetle and spider mites, and also the damaging earwig. In other cases you are able to control insects by spraying insects with horticultural oil or by introducing predatory insects, which you can purchase from garden supply centres.
Spray for Driedfruit Beetle
The driedfruit beetle (Caarpophilus hemipilus hemipterus), also referred to as the sap beetle, and several related species including the Freeman sap beetle (C. freeman) along with the confounded sap beetle (C. mutilates) commonly infest fig trees. These small brown or black beetles, from 1/10 into 1/5 inch long, sometimes have spots on their wings. They spoil the looks of figs, cause them to sour and make them appealing to other insects. The University of California’s Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program recommends putting bait traps in the region before the figs begin to ripen. After the trap count begins to drop, spray the trees with insecticide containing malathion at a solution of water and sugar in the rates specified by the manufacturer. Do not re-enter the place for 12 hours without protective clothing and do not harvest the figs for three days.
Sprays for Spider Mites
Meanwhile, the Pacific spider mite (Tetranychus pacificus) as well as the twospotted spider mite (Tetranychus urticae), both of which have yellow-green bodies with dark spots, suck the bottom of fig leaves, causing them to turn brown and drop. Commercially available insect predators including predaceous mites (Metaseilulus spp) and also sixpotted thrips (Scolothrips sexmaculatus) feed heavily on spider mites and might kill them all in a fig orchard. To smother the mites, spray fig trees with horticultural narrow-range oil combined with a pesticide containing the active ingredient bifenazate on trees that are not bearing figs. If you spray the trees with bifenazate you should not consume figs growing on these trees for one year.
Sprays for European Earwigs
The European earwig (Forficula auricularia) poses less danger to fig trees, but it might feed on the fruit. To control infestations, spray on the earwig with insecticides containing spinosad. It’s unlikely you will need stronger insecticides to control earwigs on figs, but if you do, then UC IPM recommends you spray them with insecticides containing carbaryl applied in accordance with manufacturer’s directions.
Insects Requiring Biological Control
The cream-colored larvae of the Navy worm (Prionoxystus robiniae) burrow under the bark of fig trees can encircle and kill fig tree limbs (See Reference 2). It is possible to recognize the 2-inch-long grubs from the sawdust and sap they excrete on the surface of the bark. There aren’t any pesticide sprays to combat carpenter worm larvae. You can control them with commercial formulas of the parasitic nematode, Steinernema feltiae, implemented in accordance with the provider’s instructions.
Insects without a Substance or Biological Control
There is absolutely no chemical or chemical control for the oval-shaped darkling ground beetle (Blapstinus fuliginosus) that feeds on figs. The dreary black beetle is all about 1/4 inch long, and its larvae feed on decaying organic matter on and in the dirt surrounding fig trees. Keep the ground clean beneath your trees and harvest the figs instantly.
