Need help identifying tiny green bug (pics)

14 years ago

This type bug loves my squash plants. It just seems to crawl around -- I'm not sure if it is damaging anything, or not. I don't know if he is a friend or foe.

For size comparison, that is a small pine needle in the second picture that he is crawling on. I would estimate that he is about 3mm long (excluding appendages).

I thought it might be a green stink bug but he is much smaller than that and his body form is different (more rounded and elongated, without any angles)

Any help you provide would be greatly appreciated.

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Comments (7)

luv2garden09
14 years ago
Looks kinda like an aphid
heirloomjunkie
14 years ago
I agree, looks like an aphid. And aphids are definately NOT friends. Major foe. They hang around and suck the juices from leaves, especially young leaves. I had a complete infestation last year. Horrible.

If you're going the organic route, there are remedies out there like garlic spray and tomato leaf spray you can make at home. A good spray from the hose will knock them off as well. They seem to produce like mad, and come in different colors ranging from green to pinkish.

Kim
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driftwoodtx
Original Author
14 years ago
Luv and Heirloom:

Thank you very much. It indeed looks like other pics of green aphids.

I just got rid of powdery mildew so don't look forward to the repercussions of getting the leaves all wet. I'm currently fighting off an infestation of fungus gnats and trying to dry things out a bit. I'm a newbie gardener and am learning a whole lot this year. Between squash and citrus problems, and whitefly-infested hibiscus, it hasn't been all fun. If my tomatoes survive, it will all be worth it though.

Thanks again.
rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
14 years ago
Aphids are pretty much all females, by the way. Just thought you'd like to know. They reproduce by bearing live babies without requiring any males at all. Males show up occasionally, especially in the fall when the aphids need to actually lay some eggs to overwinter.

Aphids can easily be managed by regular squishing and/or strong sprays of water directed at them. You just need to keep up with them because each 'mother' will bear between 50 to 100 babies over about 30 days and each of those will begin having their own babies in about a week. Do the math, and get very, very skeered, lol!
hosenemesis
14 years ago
Nice photos. I hit them with a squirt bottle of water set on stream.
heirloomjunkie
14 years ago
Rhizo is right. They can also be squished. That is what I ended up doing eventually. And what a sense of satisfaction it brought! :)

Other options include "good bugs" like purchased lady bugs, which feast on these beasties.
driftwoodtx
Original Author
14 years ago
Thanks everyone for the info.

Rhizo - I did the math, now I have the heebie-jeebies! lol I'm fighting that same problem with fungus gnats. They keep coming and coming and coming.... I'm using BTI and pyrethins to fight gnats - will that also fend off aphids?

I like the idea of using a squirt bottle to blast them. That way I can avoid giving the plant too much water. If I can get to them, I'll squish 'em good.