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. Nematodes are found in the soil and are too small to be seen with the naked eye. Most nematodes feed on roots. Symptoms of nematode damage include galls on the roots or stubby, stunted roots. To avoid a buildup of nematodes, rotate plantings to a different site when establishing new beds.