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My coolest bug event this year...

15 years ago

I WISH I had a macro lens, so I could take good pictures of this.... But I found my first lady bug nymph on Burgundy Iceberg a few weeks ago. I'd never seen one in real life, so I of course had to baby it - scooping it up and moving it around every few days to where the juiciest aphids were...(SUCH a dork).

And then one day it wasn't moving, and had compressed itself to an almost beetle shape, and was a different color scheme (mostly red instead of mostly black). It stayed like that for a few days, and this morning we went out and there was our brand new lady bug, sitting on top of the skin it had burst out of! I was so proud! I hope its female, and lays eggs everywhere.

And that actually reminds me, what do their eggs look like, so I don't mush them if I find them?

Anyway, we're new rose parents and this provided a good week of entertainment! And our roses owe a good deal of their health to you all...

Thanks,

Lara

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Comments (7)

alisande
15 years ago
Cool indeed! I've never seen one, and probably wouldn't recognize it if I did. Good for you for watching and appreciating . . . and for guiding it to those extra-juicy aphids!
hoovb zone 9 sunset 23
15 years ago
Very cool indeed!
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Last summer was my very worst year for JBs. They started the first week of July and I was still seeing them on my roses into October when technically the cold weather should have stopped them. I only got to enjoy my roses for a pitiful 3 weeks last year. (My roses start blooming late here, not until around June 19). So I was expecting the worst this year, and it is bad, but in comparison to last year's plague, not the worst. The things that come into play this year are: I am not using beetle bag traps this year for the first time; I am home during the day since I quit my job to care for my mother who has Alzheimers and I can go out and pick beetles throughout the day; we have had an extremely rainy summer and the beetles do not seem to forage as much when the plants are wet. Also, I got fed up with the blooms looking like shredded toilet paper and went around cutting all the buds and blooms off of every rosebush, figuring that if they didn't have such a smorgasbord to feast on maybe they'd leave. They do snack on the leaves a little, but once I took away their entrees they weren't as interested. Nonetheless, here is a gruesome photo of yesterday morning's haul....(do not look if squeamish). I would have to say the numbers are down, but the JB's aren't giving up. Celeste FROM YESTERDAY MORNING.....
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For snappers, the Oklahoma Dept. of Wildlife site says: 20 to 40 eggs are typically deposited...the eggs hatch after an incubation period of roughly 100 days (though it can range from 55-125 days depending on temperature and humidity). It didn't look like what we call a "box turtle," so I'm thinking it may have been a snapper. I wanted to go back out and take a picture of her, but I was afraid of spooking her! I pass the nest on the way to the mailbox, so I'll be able to monitor it all summer. :-) I'm so glad you all share my jubilation at such small wonders. It just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy to witness this stuff! And it sounds like you've all seen your share of "nature in progress." (Cool pics, Brenda!) A few years ago, we caught this...we call them a "locust" around here, but I think they are called something else other places.
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donnaz5
15 years ago
here's a link with some pics of their eggs, larvae, etc..

Here is a link that might be useful: ladybug life cycle
greenhaven
15 years ago
Funny you should post this today, for today I saw MY first larva! I was out photographing my mystery bug when I saw it:

{{gwi:283925}}
well_rooted
15 years ago
Earlier today I bookmarked a webpage on rose pests, good guys and diseases. Very useful. I made a point to rememeber all the good bugs, so I didn't do any of them in. So just awhile ago I rescued the top bug in the webpage linked below. It was in a bucket of water.

On this page is a pic of ladybug eggs. I am embarrassed to say that I squished a group of them a couple of days ago....

Here is a link that might be useful: Friends of roses
york_rose
15 years ago
Lacewing nymphs in action are like something from the movie Alien. They're mandibles are long, sickle-shaped, sharp, hollow picks. They grab the aphid between their mandibles, then lift it skywards and pierce the aphid with the mandibles, sucking out the aphid's internal contents.

When finished they drop the dead husk and move on to the next aphid.

It's like nothing else I've ever seen.
greenhaven
15 years ago
york_rose, how do I know when I have enough host plants to release beneficials? I know they need the food source or they will just leave.

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