Nymphs puncture individual seeds and inject a toxin so that the fleshy part of the berry stops developing where the seed was injured. Damaged seeds are hollow and turn a straw-brown color. Refer to MU publication G6010, Home Fruit Spray Schedules , for a listing of products that may be applied to control insect pests on strawberry plants. Leafrollers are small worms that roll the leaves together and feed on the leaves. They must be controlled if they become numerous.
Mites are tiny, spiderlike creatures that are typically found on the underside of leaves.
Mites tend to be the most damaging during hot, dry periods, when they suck plant juices from the leaves. Strawberry weevils or clippers puncture fruit buds with their snouts to feed on immature pollen. Later, females deposit an egg inside a floral bud and girdle the petiole of the bud so that it falls to the ground or is left hanging by a small bit of tissue. Slugs eat holes in ripe fruit and are worse during rainy weather or near rotting foliage. Shiny slime trails are evidence of slugs.