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.

I had tried to link to my KodakGallery page but that doesnt seem to work for some reason. Here is the pic: Esh, thanks for the pillbug info, thats good to know. We have loads of them, but not all that many earthworms. Greenjean, I'm originally from the UK. I've been over here for 9 yrs (3 in minnesota, 6 in Atlanta), but sometimes I'm still not sure of the right word for things! Thanks for your help.

HabBob, I don't know exactly what our bugs are, but I've got them narrowed down to Leaf Hoppers. I've only seen one at a time, and I haven't seen it do anything other than sit there. We do have many "guard" bugs floating around, hover flies, wasps, spiders, robber flies, etc... so I think nature has reached some type of balance up here, and is keeping the bad bugs to a minimum. We also have the benefit of living within 200 ft of a marsh, which would be insanely buggy if it weren't for all the birds that hang around and eat like kings. We do keep a small amount of seed in a feeder on the window to keep them close. Heh, we even have a natural perimeter of antlions around the house. So, I guess my point is nature is taking care of business for us right now, so, no, I have not seen the activity you have. We're also on opposite corners of the lower 48, so there's gonna be a difference in coloration, behavior, and available predators. I'm in a very rural area up here, lots of nature. If you live in a more suburban/urban area, you might not have a whole lot of bugs to call on to help out. One thing I've been reading is to allow a part of yard/land/lawn to go wild and bring in the good bugs and bug eaters to your property. That might not help you this year, but might be useful in the future? On a side note: I got another ID on #3, "Yes, plant bug, family Miridae, but I think it is probably a species of Necro...Nicro...Narcoleptic (no, wait, that describes me sometimes)...Ah-ha! Neurocolpus!" - E.E. I'm gonna have to do more research and maybe I'll post my leaf hopper to bugguide or feidler's bug site to get a real ID. Both sites are fantastic. - Mark

Cam, that's funny! Not growing okra this year so I can't check and see if mine has those crystal ball 'eggs' on it :-) I love okra, but ate so much last year that it was almost coming out my pores so decided I let my taste for it regenerate before planting again.