Pest management is complex, if you want to learn, a good place to start is here: Integrated Pest Management This lecture is presented in two parts. Each part is 90-minutes in length. Recorded in Sacramento County in California's Sacramento Valley, this lecture is by Mary Louise Flint, Ph.D., Director, IPM Education and Publications, UC Statewide IPM Project and Extension Entomologist & Cooperative Extension Specialist. Education: B.S. Plant Science, University of California, Davis Ph.D. Entomology, University of California, Berkeley Appointment: 100% Cooperative Extension Research Interests: Integrated pest management of landscape, agricultural and garden pests; biological control of arthropod pests; alternatives to pesticides; adoption of alternative practices by practitioners; innovative delivery of pest management information. Topics discussed in the Integrated Pest Management Lecture: * IPM references and resources * Preventing pest problems * Natural common enemies * Making less toxic pesticide choices * Controlling aphids, scales, caterpillars, coddling moths, tree borers, snails and slugs, and lawn insects. You can watch the programs now online: Just make sure you have Real Player installed or download it free. Integrated Pest Management Part1 90 minutes Integrated Pest Management Part 2 90 minutes You'll want to bookmark the following link to Professor Flint's Lab Research on: Controlling Pests in Gardens and Landscapes: Vegetables and Melons I promise you'll learn one or two things to put in your gardening bag of pest management arsenals. ;)

called leafminers.

There are many creatures that will do this that fit the description of 'worms'. They way to prevent it is to spray your plants with food safe insecticides regularly. If you grow a lot of eggplant you can check the fruit weekly and immediately remove and destroy any with holes in it. Doing this improves undamaged yield over the long term according to one asian study. There are alternatives to chemical sprays, but you have to play around with them to see what works for you. Diamatious earth spinkled around the plants and reapplied throughout the season may work out. Using neem oil products sprayed directly on the plants/fruit might work as well. If you can get a picture of the pest posted a positive ID will help others in suggesting more specific control methods.

I think I'll just be sticking with East Asian eggplants from now on. They can handle the heat and we actually eat them. This morning there were more mealy bugs on the calliope! Aaaaaaaahhhh!!!! Where do the ants find them--there is literally no where in my yard that has them. Hopefully it keeps under 100 for the next few days so maybe some fruit can form so I can see if it is worth the trouble. The trouble is, eggplant is perennial in my yard so at some point I have to be merciless and kill this plant if I just dont like it. How sad!