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Vegetable Gardening

Help! Crazy-looking bug on my bell peppers

14 years ago

Hey everyone, this is my first time posting on the garden forums (usually lurking around the kitchen forum), but I just found this really menacing looking bug on my bell pepper plants! Actually there were two that I could see.

Anyway, this is my first time really attempting to grow anything and I was getting really excited because my potted bell pepper plants are starting to produce some really nice peppers! But lately I've been finding these black bugs (maybe nickel-sized) with a red spot on their back. They have really creepy long bent legs. Today my plants are all wilty (although I had forgotten to water them this morning), so I went out to water and found more of those bugs! For some reason they don't look like the "good" kind of bug, and clearly, just flicking them off isn't working. Is there something I can spray that won't harm the plant (or me) when I eat the peppers?

Please help!

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Comments (3)

jean001
14 years ago
Can you post several images?

If they're bad guys, flicking into soapy water avoids pesticide sprays of all kinds.
kmgard
Original Author
14 years ago
Okay here's the best picture I could get:

{{gwi:71608}}

I get very creeped out by bugs, but I managed to get this shot before flicking it off with some scissors. They're sneaky and they hide all around the plant. I'd hate to use a pesticide, but constantly searching and flicking doesn't seem very effective!
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Sorry DM, I should have said Carpenter ants are members along with others of wood destroying insects, which unlike termites that eat wood, Ants forage though wood on their way to nesting opportunities. And, yes, thanks for the info on the wings..... Daryll By Paul Fisette Ã¯Â¿Â½ Ã¯Â¿Â½ 2002 Carpenter ants and termites are wood-destroying insects that cost us billions of dollars every year. More than 90% of the homes in the US are wood framed. But even homes built of masonry and steel serve up delicious wood treats to these pests. Left unchecked, they systematically destroy our homes and valuable wood objects in them.
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dave_f1 SC, USDA Zone 8a
14 years ago
Looks like a nymph (immature/wingless) of an assassin bug. That's good since assassin bugs are considered beneficial, feeding on many insect pests. I have them all over my peppers, and that's fine with me. I wouldn;t handle the adults though, since they can 'sting'. But only if you pick them up. They use their mouthparts to impale other bugs and inject toxins.

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