University of Nevada, Reno Extension documents nine garden insects across the state, but only five of them actually feed on potato plants. Aphids, earwigs, Japanese beetle, Mormon crickets, and tomato hornworms are the ones to watch. Each shows up at a different point in the plant’s growth, tied more to what the plant is doing than to a date on the calendar.
Which pests attack potato in Nevada
University of Nevada, Reno Extension documents nine insects for gardeners in this state: Aphids, Cabbage moth, Earwigs, Elm leaf beetle, Japanese beetle, Mormon cricket (Anabrus simplex), Shield bugs (stink bugs), Squash bug (Anasa tristis), and Tomato hornworm. That is the full documented list for this territory, and it is short enough that padding it with anything else would be a guess dressed up as fact.
Not all nine belong on a potato page. Cabbage moth larvae feed on brassicas, cabbage, broccoli, kale, and have no reason to touch a potato leaf. Elm leaf beetle is a tree pest, full stop, feeding on elm foliage and nowhere near a vegetable bed. Squash bug is named for a reason: it targets cucurbits, squash, pumpkins, cucumbers, piercing vines and fruit that potato plants simply don’t have. Shield bugs, the stink bugs on this list, go after fruiting vegetables like tomatoes and peppers, piercing developing fruit rather than chewing potato foliage. Four names down, four crossed off.
That leaves five that do feed on potato in a Nevada garden. Aphids cluster on new growth and stems, sucking sap and weakening the plant while spreading viruses between plants. Earwigs are scavengers first and foliage feeders second, but they will chew ragged holes in tender potato seedlings when the population is high. Japanese beetle skeletonizes leaves, eating the tissue between veins and leaving a lace-like remnant behind. Mormon cricket, scientifically Anabrus simplex, moves through in bands during outbreak years and can strip a planting of foliage in a way no other pest on this list can match. Tomato hornworm, despite the name, feeds on the whole nightshade family, and potato is squarely in that family alongside tomato, pepper, and eggplant.
The single most useful habit here is checking the underside of leaves, not just the top, since aphids and young hornworms both hide there first. A gardener who only scans the top of the canopy misses both until the damage is already done.
When each one shows up, and what it does first
Nevada’s frost timing is not one thing. Reno, Carson City, and anywhere at elevation carry frost risk months later into spring and months earlier into fall than the desert valleys around Las Vegas. That gap matters here because it shifts when transplants go in the ground, and pest timing follows the plant’s growth stage more than a fixed month. The safer way to read a pest calendar in this state is by what the plant is doing, not by what the wall calendar says.
Aphids are usually the first sign of trouble, showing up soon after transplants take hold, when new growth is soft and easy to pierce. Look for curling leaves, a sticky film on the foliage called honeydew, and sometimes a black sooty mold growing on that residue. Earwigs tend to arrive in that same early window, working at night on the youngest seedlings, leaving small ragged holes rather than the clean skeletonized pattern of a beetle.
As the canopy fills in and plants put on bulk, Japanese beetle becomes the more common sight, feeding through the day in clusters on sun-exposed leaves and leaving that distinctive lace-like skeleton where only the veins remain. Tomato hornworm shows up around the same stage of growth, but the first clue is rarely the caterpillar itself. It is the dark, pellet-shaped droppings on the soil below a suddenly stripped branch, since the hornworm’s green body blends into the foliage almost perfectly.
Mormon cricket does not follow the same steady buildup. It moves through in bands during outbreak years, and when it arrives the damage is sudden rather than gradual, a planting that looked fine one week and stripped of foliage the next. There is no slow warning period with this one the way there is with aphids or beetles.
Telling the damage apart from everything else
Not every ragged leaf is an insect’s doing. Potato plants show a lot of the same symptoms whether the cause is a pest, a nutrient shortage, a dry spell, or a disease, and guessing wrong wastes a season chasing the wrong fix. The single detail that separates most insect damage from everything else is whether the injury is uniform across the plant or concentrated on specific leaves and stems.
| What you see | Possible cause | What tells them apart |
|---|---|---|
| Yellowing between leaf veins, overall plant | Nutrient deficiency | Spread evenly across the whole plant, no chewed tissue or holes |
| Wilting despite moist soil | Disease or root issue | No visible insects on foliage, wilting doesn’t reverse overnight with water |
| Curled, sticky new leaves | Aphids | Clusters of small insects visible on leaf undersides, honeydew residue |
| Lace-like skeletonized leaves | Japanese beetle | Beetles visible feeding in daylight, leaf veins left intact |
| Sudden large chewed sections, dark droppings below | Tomato hornworm | Green caterpillar camouflaged against stem, droppings on soil |
| Torn, wilted foliage after wind or hail | Mechanical damage | Damage matches storm direction, no insects present, edges look torn not chewed |
A dry spell can mimic a lot of this too, since drought-stressed potato leaves curl and lose color in ways that look a little like aphid damage from a distance. The tell is the absence of insects and the presence of dry, cracked soil rather than any residue on the leaves. When the cause isn’t obvious after a close look, a county extension office can look at a photo or a sample and settle it faster than another week of guessing.
What actually works here, and what is a waste of time
Timing beats product choice on a short growing season, and Nevada’s growing season is short almost everywhere outside the warmest desert valleys. Getting a physical barrier over young transplants before the first pest arrives works better than reacting after the damage is already visible. Floating row cover placed over seedlings blocks earwigs and early aphid colonization during that soft, vulnerable early stage, and it can come off once the plants are established enough to tolerate some feeding.
Handpicking works surprisingly well for both Japanese beetle and tomato hornworm, precisely because both are large enough to spot and slow-moving enough to catch. It costs nothing, it doesn’t harm beneficial insects working the same bed, and it is realistic for a home garden where the infested area is small. Checking the underside of leaves and along the stem in the early morning, when hornworms are easiest to spot against the cooler light, catches them before a branch is stripped.
Mormon cricket outbreaks are the exception, since a band of crickets moving through a landscape isn’t something a home gardener manages with a barrier or a pair of gloves. That situation calls for the county extension office, since outbreak-level response is coordinated at a level beyond a single yard.
What wastes time is spraying broadly and reactively, treating a whole bed because one leaf showed damage. Broad treatment after an outbreak has already passed does nothing for the current damage and can knock back the aphid predators, ladybugs among them, that would have kept the next generation in check. This site doesn’t recommend specific products or active ingredients, since what’s registered for use in Nevada is something only the University of Nevada, Reno Extension can confirm for a given situation.
Where to check this for your own county
University of Nevada, Reno Extension is the source for everything on this page, and it’s also the right place to go next. What’s documented at the state level doesn’t tell you what’s actually in a specific yard, since pest presence shifts county to county and even block to block within the same county. A garden in Washoe County dealing with an aphid problem in early spring is working with a completely different frost calendar than a garden in Clark County, and a Mormon cricket outbreak reported in one rural county says nothing about whether the insect is present two counties over.
The county extension office is set up for exactly this kind of local question. Bring a photo of the damage, or a sample if the pest itself is visible, and staff there can confirm what’s actually causing the problem faster than working through it alone. They also know what’s currently registered for use in Nevada, which changes over time and varies by what’s being grown and where.
The next useful step for a gardener facing damage right now is a call or a visit to that county office rather than another search for a fix. Local knowledge on timing, on what’s active this particular season, and on what’s actually registered beats a general guide every time.
Common questions
Do all five pests show up in every Nevada garden?
No. University of Nevada, Reno Extension documents these as pests found in the state, but presence varies by county and even by yard. A garden can deal with aphids every year and never see a Mormon cricket outbreak, since that one depends on regional population cycles rather than routine garden conditions.
Is a Mormon cricket the same as a true cricket?
It’s a shield-backed katydid, not a true cricket, despite the common name. It’s documented here under the name Mormon cricket (Anabrus simplex), and its damage pattern, moving through in bands and stripping foliage fast, sets it apart from the slower, steady feeding of aphids or beetles.
Can stink bugs or squash bugs still show up in a garden growing potato alongside other vegetables?
Yes, but they’re feeding on the other crops, not the potato itself. Shield bugs target fruiting vegetables like tomatoes and peppers, and squash bug targets cucurbits. Seeing either insect in a mixed garden bed doesn’t mean the potato plants are the target.
What should I do if I see damage but can’t tell which pest caused it?
Take a photo of the damage and, if possible, the insect itself, and bring both to the county extension office. Matching the damage pattern against the table above narrows it down, but a local office can confirm it faster and rule out non-insect causes like drought stress or nutrient deficiency.