Plant diseases and pests

Plant diseases

If you notice an unusual disease on your plants, or need advice about how to control it, contact Plant Pathology.

Plant pests

If you notice an unusual insect on your plants or need advice about control, contact Entomology.

They provide a free identification and advice service to growers and the general public.

How to submit a plant or pest for identification

You can send a plant or insect sample to get it identified in three ways.

• by courier
• by mail
• by hand.

Go to the contacts page for the address for courier and mail deliveries.

You can deliver a sample by hand to the following place:

Berrimah Agricultural Laboratory (BAL) building reception
Berrimah Farm
Makagon Road
Berrimah.

You can leave your specimen in the specially-provided plastic specimen receiving box at reception.

If you want to talk to someone about your specimen or hand it over in person, use the phone at reception and dial 92258 or 92228 (if you have an insect) or 92261 (if you have a plant sample) and a staff member will come and receive your specimen.

For information on how to prepare plant specimens for disease diagnosis read the Agnote How to Submit Plant Specimens for Disease Diagnosis PDF (41.5 KB).

Search the insect database

You can search the NT insects database to identify insect pests and find out the damage they cause.

You can search on various criteria including insect name, host plant or type of damage.

You can print fact sheets containing images and information about an insect.

Other information

For more information about plant pests and diseases, and how to recognise and treat them, go to the Plant Health Australia website.

Fruit and vegetables

The following links contain information on common or agriculturally important pests and diseases of fruit and vegetable crops in the NT.

• Biology and Pest Management of Spider Mites PDF (406.2 KB)
• Blossom End Rot PDF (52.4 KB)
• Common Insect Pests of Cucurbits PDF (421.0 KB) [
• Control of Melon Thrips, Thrips palmi PDF (57.8 KB)
• Longicorn Borer in Fruit Trees PDF (804.0 KB)
• Mango Anthracnose PDF (56.2 KB)
• Mangoes - Bacterial Black Spot PDF (37.9 KB)
• Mango Leafhopper PDF (259.7 KB)
• Mango scab and its control PDF (138.7 KB)
• Mediterranean Fruit Fly PDF (51.2 KB)
• Mites of Horticultural Crops in the Northern Territory PDF (433.5 KB)
• Mosaic viruses of curcubits PDF (100.3 KB)
• Peanuts- common diseases in the top end PDF (93.6 KB)
• Poinsettia Whitefly PDF (34.8 KB)
• Redbanded thrips on Fruit Trees PDF (451.7 KB)
• Tomato Leaf Roll PDF (141.0 KB)

Ornamentals and natives

The following links contain information on interesting and common pests and diseases of both ornamental and native plants. These may be of interest to the nursery and garden industry, amenity horticulture and general public.

• Cup Moths (Doratifera spp.) PDF (452.8 KB)
• Fusarium wilt of Rosewood PDF (183.8 KB)
• Monitoring and Control of Ginger Ants in Nurseries PDF (121.7 KB)
• Mycosphaerella Scaevola PDF (46.5 KB)
• Orchid diseases in the Northern Territory PDF (46.3 KB)
• Teak Leaf Rust PDF (59.1 KB)

Home gardens

The following links contain information commonly requested by home gardeners on plant pests and diseases.

• Ants in the Household and Garden PDF (250.4 KB)
• Beneficials in the Backyard PDF (1.2 MB)
• Common Spiders in the Darwin Area PDF (362.2 KB)
• Fruit Flies in the Home Garden PDF (807.1 KB)
• Ganoderma diseases PDF (37.3 KB)
• Palm Leaf Beetle PDF (348.7 KB)
• Stored Product Pest - Cigarette Beetle PDF (319.1 KB)
• Swarming Bugs PDF (305.2 KB)
• Spiraling Whitefly PDF (411.9 KB)