It looks like a foe: (check it out) Pear Slug/Pear Sawfly (Caliroa cerasi) Pear sawfly prefers pear and cherry hosts but will also attack the leaves of plum, quince and occasionally apple. Larvae feed on the upper surface of pear and cherry leaves removing the green epidermis. High populations can defoliate trees. The adult is a glossy black wasp about 5 mm long. Larvae resemble small, black, elongate slugs, hence the common name pear slug. There are two generations a year. Pear saw fly overwinters as a pupa in a cocoon deep in the soil. Monitor by looking for slug-like larvae especially in the summer when populations can build up rapidly and cause severe damage. There is no information on natural enemies of pear saw fly in the B.C. interior. Conventional insecticides applied against other insect pests generally control pear sawfly. Malathion and Sevin sprays will also control the larvae. Libby

Esox, I wouldn't be flicking them on the ground. I would bet my top dollar that they are like squirrels on your bird feeder. You can shoo them off all you want, and they'll just come right back. If I was you, I'd be giving them swimming lessons. Or, if you want some entertainment from them, do like I used to do with june bugs: feed em to the fish. Collect them in a bug jar, and take them with you to a pond where there's blue gills. It is real fun, especially for the kids, to toss the beetles on the water's surface, and watch the fish snatch them up. I also used to have a 75g aquarium with warmouth bluegills, and they LOVED june bugs. As for the aphids, count your blessings, because once you get one, you get millions. Be careful if you ever buy any seedlings to plant, which I do for tomatos. They hitch a ride in, and then you are stuck with em. Joe

I did a little looking around at stink bug nymph photos on the internet and it looks like Ladybugfruit's photo above is of the baby good guys, the Predaceous stink bug. They also match the picture of the Predaceous nymph photos in my 'Texas Bug Book' by Malcolm Beck and John Howard Garrett. By the way, it's a great book that I've had for years and that I'm reading again. It seems that all or most stink bug nymphs are red and black, but with different patterning. Because of the color it's easy to get them mixed up. Plus not all photos on the internet are correct if we are to believe Beck and Garret and the majority of the internet pictures. The Texas Bug Book says this about the Predaceous stink Bug: "Predator of Colorado potato beetle, bean beetle, corn earworm and moth, asparagus beetle, and cabbage looper. Nymph will devour Colorado potato beetle eggs. Larger nymphs and larve eat the larve [of Colorado potato beetles]." Lavernialadybug, thanks for what seems to be the correct ID. And thanks Ladybugfruit for taking the pictures which brought this bug to our attention. Who among us hasn't killed one (or many) of the good guys thinking it was a pest or pulled up a good plant we thought was a weed. We live and learn. The mama Predaceous stink bug will probably lay some more eggs. Beck and Garrett say there are two or three generations a year. Happy gardening!

Just found these today while I was weeding. Definitely a cutworm. Are they residing below soil and do they secrete a white fluid when squished? That's a good...well bad if it is...sign (or so I've read) that it's a cutworm. Try to kill the ones you find. Here are good, organic ways to get them away from your plants.