Could they be flea beetles? This pick shows a striped one. Although the ones in my area, closer to z6, are all black and as you describe, smaller than the head of a pin. http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/insect/05592.html Erin

Waldvo: That is either Nimblewill or Bentgrass most times. Both are considered weeds in most lawns. Many varieties of bentgrass are used for both home lawns and golf course Fairways, tees and greens. It also often shows up as an invasive weed (especially in low or wet spots). Nimblewill is just a plain old school weedgrass (no redeeming value what-so-ever). There is another thread or two going on Nimblewill vs. bentgrass and you can use the site's search option to explore those threads. Michael: The first photo looks enough like zoysia for it to be possible, but the ID characteristics require up close and personal details you cannot see in a wide shot of the lawn. So... 2 choices: Compare it to the neighbors 'known' Zoysia. And/Or look for very tough wiry stolons (runners) in the patches of (zoysia?)undesired grass. Both grasses have stolons. Stolons allow the grass to spread by creeeping along the soil and sending roots down and shoots up simultaneously. Zoysia has wiry tough stolons. Bentgrass is almost entirely succulent and has no woody tissues at all. Either you'll find tough wiry runners (pull some out with difficulty) and diagnose Zoysia or you'll notice no wiry stolons and your bentgrass will pull up easily. Solution is similar. Round-up the undesired grass when actively growing (treat at least 3 feet past where you think the 'weed' has stopped) and then reseed. Ugh! I know, not fun. But both can be killed and removed in Late summer and the reseeding can take place almost immediately afterwards. I might spray (Zoysia especially) two times. Once Now (or very soon) and once right before seeding in 3-5 weeks(anything that looks even a little suspicious). Round-up (Glyphosphate) breaks down very quickly and will not adversely affect seed. But miss just a bit of the stuff and you'll be doing the renovation again (eventually). Another solution would be to live with it. Lots of folks do just that.

Yes, those are aphids. I personally think that the heavy duty broad spectrum insecticide you've mentioned is waaaay overkill, and could cause you some backlash problems in the future. Insecticidal soap would control an aphid infestation, and do much less damage to the rest of the microclimate. Aphids have plenty of natural pests out there, if only we don't kill them all. PART of the problem about spraying an entire yard with such a chemical is that once you've locked yourself into using such a broad-spectrum product, you can do such a bad number on the zillions of beneficials that you find major pest outbreaks occurring on a regular basis. SO....the more you use, the more you have to keep on using. Here is a link that might be useful:

I was thinking something smaller than that, Bean. I have very, very tiny bugs in my pond that persist even after IÂve killed the mosquito larvae with Dunks. I donÂt know what they are, but I was thinking maybe it was what you had, but itÂs not. Mine are WAY smaller. Since yours are long, do/did they "squiggle" around? ThatÂs what mosquito larvae do! If thatÂs not what they are, I donÂt have any other ideas. But I see two different things there. Since you have Picasa, if you crop one of the pics to get a really, really closeup, might it help? Slugs lay eggs that look like tiny clear round beads, usually on the undersides of leaves or on the soil surface. They wouldnÂt have been in waterÂbut I agree that a few of them look like very small slugs! Maybe with the pics somebody else will have some ideas. IÂd like to know what mine are too, but theyÂre way to tiny to get a picture of. But whatever they are, they donÂt seem to do any damage to anythingÂor to evolve into anything! Skybird