Alabama OTPC Pests & Weeds
2025/2026 Exam Questions and Verified
Answers | Already Graded A+
Piercing-sucking insects - 🧠 ANSWER ✔✔Scales, mealybugs, aphids,
whiteflies & lacebugs; Leave Sooty Mold or Honeydew
Scales - 🧠 ANSWER ✔✔Most damaging pests of ornamental plants; feed
on underside of leaves, appear as bumps, prune out infested parts, use
less susceptible plants when possible
Mealybugs - 🧠 ANSWER ✔✔Scale insects, Covered with white, waxy
material, usually a houseplant problem; replace badly infested plants
, Aphids - 🧠 ANSWER ✔✔winged or wingless; tail pipes or bumps on
rearend, reproduce rapidly; wash off with water or soaps/oils
Lace bugs - 🧠 ANSWER ✔✔azalaes and other shrubs; feed on underside
of leaves; look for black grainy speck of excrement
Thrips - 🧠 ANSWER ✔✔Feed on blossoms causing petals to become
blotched, most abundant pest of ornamental plants
Whiteflies - 🧠 ANSWER ✔✔Close relative of scales, feed under leaf
surfaces
Chewing insects - 🧠 ANSWER ✔✔Bagworms, cutworms, grasshoppers &
beetles
Leafminers - 🧠 ANSWER ✔✔Larvae of several kinds of insects; feed inside
the leaves creating tunnels causing discoloration
Borers - 🧠 ANSWER ✔✔Cause injury by burrowing into ornamentals and
trees. Stressed plants more susceptible
Brown Patch - 🧠 ANSWER ✔✔Most damaging disease of St.
Augustinegrass in AL.
2025/2026 Exam Questions and Verified
Answers | Already Graded A+
Piercing-sucking insects - 🧠 ANSWER ✔✔Scales, mealybugs, aphids,
whiteflies & lacebugs; Leave Sooty Mold or Honeydew
Scales - 🧠 ANSWER ✔✔Most damaging pests of ornamental plants; feed
on underside of leaves, appear as bumps, prune out infested parts, use
less susceptible plants when possible
Mealybugs - 🧠 ANSWER ✔✔Scale insects, Covered with white, waxy
material, usually a houseplant problem; replace badly infested plants
, Aphids - 🧠 ANSWER ✔✔winged or wingless; tail pipes or bumps on
rearend, reproduce rapidly; wash off with water or soaps/oils
Lace bugs - 🧠 ANSWER ✔✔azalaes and other shrubs; feed on underside
of leaves; look for black grainy speck of excrement
Thrips - 🧠 ANSWER ✔✔Feed on blossoms causing petals to become
blotched, most abundant pest of ornamental plants
Whiteflies - 🧠 ANSWER ✔✔Close relative of scales, feed under leaf
surfaces
Chewing insects - 🧠 ANSWER ✔✔Bagworms, cutworms, grasshoppers &
beetles
Leafminers - 🧠 ANSWER ✔✔Larvae of several kinds of insects; feed inside
the leaves creating tunnels causing discoloration
Borers - 🧠 ANSWER ✔✔Cause injury by burrowing into ornamentals and
trees. Stressed plants more susceptible
Brown Patch - 🧠 ANSWER ✔✔Most damaging disease of St.
Augustinegrass in AL.
