Bug crawls up worst pest list

A BUG with a taste for beans has jumped into the top ten list of the worst garden pests.

The southern green shield shot up to sixth place on the Royal Horticultural Society’s annual ranking of the most bothersome insects, with the charity claiming it had benefitted from the warm summer last year.

The pest, pictured, is thought to have been introduced to the UK from mainland Europe in the 2000s. It has a preference for vegetables – especially beans – the RHS said.

But it was the box tree caterpillar which topped the list of worst pests, the third time it has done so. Slugs and snails came in second place, while honey fungus ranked as the worst disease.

Matthew Cromey of the RHS said: ‘Our pest and disease ranking may be evidence of how climate change is impacting on what we find in our gardens.’