Every year is different; weather variations & crops grown nearby can have an enormous impact. In my area, I think that many insects this past year were fooled by a very warm early Spring, and came out of dormancy only to starve to death. Drought also may have helped, by keeping wild populations of insects down. This was a double-edged sword. I had very few caterpillars, but I also had almost no ladybugs... which usually wipe out my aphids in July without any help from me. My home & shed were full of dead ladybugs this Spring, and without them, the aphids were more of a nuisance than usual. Fortunately, lacewings & wasps (!) reduced their numbers in late Summer. Yellow wasps continue to amaze me... I'm starting to think of them as friends. Mgatlin, there is a good chance that your OG techniques influenced your results to at least some degree. I am a firm believer that healthy plants can fight for themselves, and that you should feed the soil, not the plant. Keep it up!

WOW!!! Thanks! Floridays you Rock! Little Leaf Notcher - Artipus floridanus (Horn) It looks a lot like the little Leaf Notcher and its large! I already sprayed my tree twice already with the seven dust. My tree looking a little better but don't know if it really worked. Only time will tell. Right now, tons of new leaves/branches just formed on my mango trees. I have given my little babies a lot of some tender loving care, and it shows :-) Growing nicely and fast! Fertilizer doing well. Since they are flightless, I can load some poison powder on the base of the tree. I see some lizards on my tree and they are my best friend since they eat those damn bugs! BTW, the Seven dust is harmless to animals and plants... Just bugz. Well, when my tree bloom I know I will need it clear of that stuff so the honey bees can fertilize them :-) Any recommendations to kill those buggers? Thanks so much you guys.

About that Diatomaceous Earth seasoning Dan, there is no need for concern for humans. DE is a nutritional supplement for humans, as well as a supplement in livestock feed. It is claimed to be a great "colon cleaner" and in food grade is consumed by some health conscious as a nutritional supplement, and consumed by everyone who eats grains as it is mixed in silos and other places grain is stored. Francoise, I'm glad you liked the post :-) Are you in the South of France. If so, I was reading about the Spiked Stink Bug (Picromerus bidens) which has thorny pronotum epaulettes, is that the big nasty one? It is an interesting case! Predatory when caterpillars and other insect pests are attacking your tomatoes, but when it can't find other bugs to eat, then it goes for the tomatoes :-( Better that bug than the other ones until they get too hungry, I used to be squeamish about smashing the stink bugs but now I just grab a few quickly with my fingers and quickly crush them. Here's the problem you have observed, and you are right about the "learning" in the sense they communicate. Stink Bugs (Shield Bugs in general), contain alarm pheromones in their ejected fluid, which can be up to 10% their whole body weight. Once the pheromone is in the air, others become alarmed and go into hide-and-seek and flight mode. When grabbing them I work from bottom up and that is somewhat helpful. If doing the chore of removal, I quickly grab with one hand's fingers and kill on a flat stone with my foot *downwind* before they squirt. rgreen, believe me when I say I am sympathetic to your situation. It sounds very much like mine. Luckily the Maromated Brown ones aren't here this season as they have been before, there is something about them that I find more disgusting than the other ones. Maybe it is because their legs have bigger flairs on them. I follow the vegetarian thinking, but am not a vegetarian myself, I just can't give up the convenience as a protein source, nor the smell of steak and ribs, though I am a minimalist when it comes to animal food in the last few years. My food expenses have really dropped and my health has improved. But I think eating stink bugs shouldn't have such a taboo or gross-factor. Stink Bugs here are pure fed on tomatoes. They make me ripping mad when I harvest and have to eat their spittle in every single tomato they've damaged, but are a much safer (re: human pathogens) than larger animal meats. Then I think about how many vegetarians like honey, which is a regurgitated product (multiple times) by bees as they add their saliva and use their honey stomachs to completely break down the starches they collect into simple sugars. I'm not sure what makes that any more appetizing than another bug that eats pure tomatoes. I need to be a little more adventurous though and actually do what I'm thinking sometime. If we knew how many insect parts we were eating on a regular basis, I think many people would loose their inhibitions. In the future I see stink bug farming. Of those that eat molluscs , I just keep thinking ... some French guys must have be the first to say Escargot, Voila!, and oysters ... who was the first one to stick one of those in the mouths :-) :-) Cheers PC

If using soap, try to use vegetable based one - like Castile soap (made of olive oil). Or buy insecticidal soaps (different than washing soaps). Regular soaps/dishwashing liquids could be harsh on plants - they are made to dissolve any wax, oils very fast - and that could cause damage to leaf protection. Without waxy/oily protection, pathogens could easier infest plants. It may not matter much if using soap once or very seldom, I do not know. But why taking chance? And for continuous protection, maybe it is better not to even start with regular soaps/detergents. There is so many chemicals in them that help with cleaning - but they likely weaken the plants.