Thanks, Star! Sometimes I get lucky, and my craptastical camera phone works well, lol. I was actually surprised the pics came out so clear, since it's generally hit or miss. I think its neat that even the speckles on his legs show up. Rhizo - Shoot, I was going to put "katydidy" into the title of my post too, but it was too long! That was the 3rd and last of my guesses as to what this guy was, since last year, I remember spotting one, but I couldn't remember what he looked like. I know he hung around for about a week, and then I never saw him, or any friends of his, again. This is the only one I've seen so far this year, so if he wants a snack, he can have one, as I have enough foliage to spare, and apparently katydids aren't vectors for any diseases. Yay - a little garden buddy!

I've never had ambush bugs in my garden, but have the related bee assassin bugs (Apiomerus crassipes) and I deal with them merely by watching for them and snipping them in half with my garden scissors when I see them. As with any predatory insect, each individual gardener must make their choices based on their goals for their garden's ecosystem. One of my goals as a gardener is to be welcoming to bees and other pollinators. While assassin bugs and other predatory insects generally are welcome in my garden, I don't tolerate the presence of bee assassin bugs and wouldn't tolerate the ambush bugs either. While both will feed on other insects and not solely on bees, I like having the bees in the garden so tend to kill pests that prey on them. There is no pesticide you could use to kill the ambush bugs that would not harm other desirable insects including the bees.

The green one is an aphid. Not sure about the little beetle.

Mealy. Dip a Q-tip in rubbing alcohol and remove it. The critter will turn orange/red. You can also remove with a toothpick or whatever. Treat the plant with a spray of 50/50 rubbing alcohol/water. Keep it out of the sun when you do this. A few days later you may need to treat again. If you catch them early - like just one or two - and treat you can control them rather well. Ants like to move them from plant to plant, so check out your others for them and treat accordingly. For a big infestation you may need a systemic, like diluted Bayer. Tis the season, Britni! I am doing my annual battle with mealies and aphids. I really should start using a systemic drench preventatively! On the up side, I found some lady bugs on the plants on my lanai today. The bad news is I must have something for them to eat!