Russmizel I want to give you many thanks for posting that link. It was very interesting as well as useful to me! now bookmarked... I had posted a thread (in the California gardening, not here) asking how to control murgantia histrionica, which some folks call Harlequin bugs (or beetles). I also searched old threads, but there was not much other than hand picking and well, not much else. Neem oil does not work and I am not willing to use pesticides. They sucked the life out of my brassicas (cole crops) which are perennials here, and I had to uproot them (with tears in my eyes, my beloved lacinato kale...). They proceeded to jump on my jalapenos (yes folks, pepper spray does not work with them, they like hot peppers!), they ruined now about 3-4 tomato plants but fortunately found the sunflowers I grow for this purpose. They are squatting on one of the largest sunflowers and this makes it easy to pick them too. Fortunately they are leaving the other peppers alone (I still have a lot of flowers and growing little peppers on my pepper plants) I never asked about the other @#$%$$# bugs, the green stink one (Nezara viridula), because they made the scene a little later....in the front garden beds.... and of course, they found their way to my okra pods. After reading the articles I see that okra is very attractive to them. I learned that they can be distracted or trapped by 'sacrificial' crops and I just planted sunflowers there, since I hope to use that bed (far away from the other brassica bed) to grow brassicas again in a couple of months. Learning what other crops can be used sacrificially is also very interesting, as well as all the important timing information. On a happier note, I found something really good last night in the okra beds. I have been coming home, and putting in the latex gloves, and doing a bit of very unpleasant (hence the latex gloves) hand extermination. I do not like killing anything, and I don't like touching bugs with my bare hands. Every day there were fewer to pick (of both the Harlequins and the green stink bugs). Last night I searched the okra very carefully and found none! I usually find at least 2-3....I kept looking and there was this green branches on one of the okra flowers, I look closely and it is a large green insect with long spindly legs and an alien like head. I googled it and found out it was a praying mantid! it ate the green bugs! I wonder if it would also eat the Harlequins? so things are better now.....and thanks again for the link.

This method is a bit unconventional, but here goes: I acquired 2 Barred Rock hens a few years ago. Because of the number of wild critters nearby, I can't let them roam, so have them caged in a chain link enclosure. They like the roly poly bugs very much. So - now every morning, when I check them, I add some almost finished compost - a shovel or 2. You should hear them chortle - as they scratch through their morning compost offering. Also, when the compost is finished - I like to screen it before use and adding to planters, so the siftings are allowed to sit overnight in the wheelbarrow. Next day, all of the bugs will congregate to the top - the birds will dispatch them readily - or again, I scoop them up and feed them to "my girls" in their pen. One other thing that seems to be working - I have acquired a plethora of small lizards more so recently - and they scamper around the yard slurping up all my bugs. Truly - I see very few in my strawberry bins, and only an occasional peck (bird/bug/lizard?). On a thoughful note, however, I also noted one lizard CHEWING on a boysenberry FLOWER. This may/or may not be a future problem, but if so - I might encourage more of the neighbor's visiting cats to keep things in check. Never a dull moment in the yard of an organic farmer! Bejay

Here ya go Laura, First the Doodle Bug The small bottle is glued to the wood body with AleeneÂs® Platinum Bond Glass and Bead Slick Surface Adhesive. I will never be without that product. Anyway the legs were inserted into drilled holes in the wood body and the wood base: the tension helps hold everything in place until the glue sets. The base was stained (painted with food color and sanded), textured with Spackle, stained again, sanded lightly, and sealed with polyurethane. The White Spider 8 thin steel rods were welded to a washer and formed as legs. The threaded pipe that is used in lamps was sized and a double threaded stud (one end wood screw thread the other metal thread) was affixed to one end with JB Weld. The mandibles are small pieces of steel rod inserted into drilled holes in the wood draw-pull. The threaded pipe was screwed into the draw pull, the washer with legs was added, then the glass body and finally a lamp finial. A single strand of bicycle brake cable was attached to the pipe before the finial and the spider was complete. Sounds simple; huh? Well now that I have it completed it is. Calamity, I am trying to get 50 pieces ready before Fall. So far I have 40. I will then spend the early Fall deciding on final names and prices. If all goes according to plan IÂll open an account on Yessey Online Art Gallery. Oh BTW anyone wanting to capture these pictures needs to do it before October as I will be moving all the pictures on Photobucket and all the links will be lost  sorry. Robert

There is a "nymph" stage which is smaller, and the nymphs grow, somewhat similar to caterpillars where they shed their skin, or exoskeleton, 5 times before reaching adulthood. Maybe you are seeing various instars of growth. Without a photo, I'm only guessing anyway. They also vary in size, depending on the species. There are like 20,000 species of leafhoppers and treehoppers. I love the colorful leafhoppers, bad as they may be. The ones that are blue and red striped? Susan Here is a link that might be useful: Leafhoppers Article