Good bugs, bad bugs

14 years ago

First the good...I have 2 Black Swallowtail butterfly cats on my parsley getting larger every day, it's such a pleasure to go out and check on them.

Then of course we have the ugly...Japanese Beetles are here, mating. I won't put out traps because they attracted beetles from probably 40 miles around LOL.

How are you faring in your gardens?

Mary

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Comments (14)

leisa_in_md
14 years ago
My poor hollyhocks have been absolutely decimated this year by what looks to be weevils... :(

But on the flip side, I'm seeing baby Praying Mantis (plural?) everywhere!

Leisa
highalttransplant
14 years ago
Good bugs - a few ladybugs and butterflies, baby Praying Mantis, lots of pollinators (various types of bees)

Bad bugs - the annual battle of the grasshoppers has begun ... sigh. For the next month, the kids and I will kill dozens everyday, and not put a dent in the population. The amount of damage they cause in both the veggie garden, and the flower beds is depressing, but the only things that will kill a full grown grasshopper (other than birds and Praying Mantis) are chemicals that I'm not willing to use in the garden.

This year, I'm seeing fewer Yellow Jackets, but now we have hornets. I can't seem to locate the nest though. Where do hornets usually build their nests?

Bonnie
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Good advice above. You can also narrow down possibilities by crop - "common bean pests", "common squash pests", etc. and use the images tab. With some time and research you can quickly learn about the bad guys. Normally it is the damage we note first rather than the actual bug so also noting the type of damage done - tiny holes, big holes, chewed edges, wilting, shape of leaves (rolled up, turned under, etc) will help narrow it down. How much damage indicates if it is just a few pests that can be hand picked or many that need pesticide intervention. And since many pests are regional, don't forget all the resources from your local county extension office. They are good at narrowing down pests specific to your area. Dave Here is a link that might be useful: Insect IDs (note all categories listed on left)
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I get those all over my yard. I hate them. They lay eggs in my compost piles and raised beds which then become infected with larva. While the larva eat decaying matter (good) they also eat roots of plants in the beds (bad). I've had beds so badly infested that I found dozens of them in a cubic foot of soil. Whenever I turn my compost or beds I pull out all those darn things and leave them out for the birds. I kill the beetles if I see them flying around the yard.
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First one doesn't look like a leafhopper to me, but I can't ID. If it is, it's not actually harmless. It sort of looks like a lygus bug to me. You've got a painted lady caterpillar underneath the silken web, and that pretty longlegged fly is BENEFICIAL, not merely harmless. Painted lady caterpillars don't show up in huge hoards, like some others. The adults are among the prettiest jewels in the garden. If I had some of these on my plants, I would let them be. I'll attach a link to a few leaf hopper images for you to decide. Here is a link that might be useful: Leafhopper images
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carrie630
14 years ago
high - how are you killing the grasshoppers - I have so many. I read somewhere that if you put a mirror on the ground with a dish of soapy water in front of it, they fly into the mirror, knock their obnoxious heads into it and fall into the water... That just sounds way too easy!

carrie
highalttransplant
14 years ago
LOL, Carrie!!! I have never heard that one, but that would be fun to watch! My high tech method involves slipping off my flipflop and smacking them, but not while they are on one of my plants though. I better not go into detail about what my boys have been known to do with them, or someone will accuse us of animal cruelty.
tiffy_z5_6_can
14 years ago
Bonnie, Go ahead and be cruel. There should be a bounty on those things. They have invaded my gardens this year and I'm just peeved to the point of no return. Oh, and this is the cool, damp, Atlantic coast here. I thought the buggers only invaded farmlands in the dry hot sun in the west. So much for that thought...

Lots of birds around so I hope they see the grasshoppers and lick their chops with a few.

Loving the Hummingbird Moths and Hummingbords too. Very few Lily beetles. Bees are starting to get abundant. Evening moths are plentiful. Tiger Swallowtails have been spotted. A wasp ran after me yesterday. Oh, and the toad and the snake. They were found under my potting shelf outside so I put them in the hosta gardens to take care of the army of slugs.

If I think of anything else I'll let you know. :O)

Oh, just thought of the ants. Too numerous to mention. Armies of them. Quadrillions.
PVick
14 years ago
You guys are scaring me away from the idea of ground gardening!

All I'm seeing up here are aphids, aphids and more aphids!
drippy
14 years ago
I have ants, although they don't seem to be doing any damage. Some hornets about, but that's nothing new, either. Surprisingly, there are way less mosquitoes here than I had in SE MA, even though we're living on a lake (maybe because? More fish and birds to get 'em?), and fewer JBs, too, thank heaven.

But I have a few chomped leaves, and bugs I haven't identified yet. A lot of bird life around here though, and I suspect that helps keep some of the bug population down. Also, I planted (in pots) nasturtiums and marigolds, which seem to be keeping the bugs (aphids and hornworm)away from the tomatoes. No praying mantises that I've noticed, and few ladybugs.
token28001
14 years ago
Drippy, our bugs get here late. They can't take the heat. The mosquitoes aren't too bad this year because of little standing water to breed in. But they still manage to find some somewhere.
carrie630
14 years ago
drippy - watch out for fire ants - they can really sting... I was shocked coming from New York how these ants can hurt so bad...

My jap beetle population is way down this year - way down - thank goodness.

We are near bee keepers so I have a ton of honey bees, bumbles and they are very happy here in my yard.

Carrie
drippy
14 years ago
Gee, token, now I have something to look forward to. :)

Carrie, I had been given a heads-up about the fire ants before I got here, & researched a little on what to look for. My son had a little run-in with some, and it was pretty nasty.

Also was given a heads-up about the black widows, brown recluses, and poisonous snakes...
brandymulvaine
14 years ago
I've found lots(9?) of monarch cats on milkweed at my work and have brought them home to be raised in my empty fishtank. Less chance of them getting eaten that way. When they're ready to fly I let them go.
Also found some eight spotted forester moths on the grapevines that my son wants to raise.
Been very cool and damp here this spring/early summer-not much insect activity as far as bees and butterflies lots of JBs though.
-B
leisa_in_md
14 years ago
Hey Bonnie -- the hornets I've seen nest in the ground.

And I'm with you all on the ants. I've never seen so many!!!

Leisa
tiffy_z5_6_can
14 years ago
Drippy,

Having second thoughts?? :O)
drippy
14 years ago
No second thoughts, Tiffy - just have to be more ultra careful about some of the insect life. But then, as I said, the populations of mosquitoes (which caused a few EEE deaths in MA every year I lived there), JBs, and deer ticks are much lower here so far (although all 3 are found here).