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Pests & Diseases - Australia

Help to Identify Garden Bug

8 years ago

Are these bugs

friend or foe?

I planted some flowers to attract butterflies and they are not yet mature or produced buds & this morning I saw tiny yellow specks that looked like pollen & I looked closer & thought it moved so I grabbed my camera & they appear to be some type of bug.

The seed packet suggested to keep the garden pesticide free or the butterflies won't feed from them.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks in Advance.

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Comments (3)

Gail Polansky
Original Author
8 years ago
oops i am in florida not australia...sorry
blckrose
8 years ago
My immediate thought was aphids but I'm not sure ....... Florida! (just noticed your addition). Well, I really can't say for sure (I'm in Australia) but I suspect they are sap suckers. What plants/ 'flowers' are they on? If they are sap-suckers, you'll either need to finger scrape them off or use a pesticide.
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I know that this is a tad late for this season, but check out this link - it may be of help for next year! Here is a link that might be useful: Leaffooted Bugs Leptoglossus phyllopus
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Also, insecticidal soaps and lightweight horticultural oils (or both combined) can be effective on aphids, yet leave behind no toxic residue. Of course, desirable and/or beneficial insects will be harmed by even this spray if it contacts them directly. So don't do that! But when used with care and precision, great tools for the gardener. +oM
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They look like flower thrips. A search for 'thrips on snapdragons' brought up this on the internet Flower focus: Snapdragons and I copied the below from the article: "Here in WA we are plagued by the western flower thrips and since our farm is managed organically there isn’t a real solution to the issue. After a few seasons of fretting about the millions of tiny dark specks crawling all over the blooms (they love snaps) I just stopped growing white, yellow and soft pink varieties. The thrips don’t damage the snapdragon flowers like they do with Roses or Lisianthus but on the light colored blooms they really stand out and attract attention. " Even though they are not particularly damaging I'd try knocking them off with a gentle shower of water while holding the stems with one hand so they don't break. If they persist try spraying them with neem oil that you can buy at almost any garden center already mixed and ready to spray in a small spray bottle.
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Well, after getting curious, I also found a few images of leaf footed bug nymphs that resemble your pic. In short... it could be either one of the leaf footed, or one of the many types of assassin bug nymphs. Keep an eye out for more. The adults are much easier to identify with greater certainty. If you see the leaf footed adults, they are the pests. They look a lot like adult squash bugs. Oh, and as I'm sure you've read, assassin and wheel bugs have a nasty bite. They don't look to hurt humans at all, but although they are beneficial garden insects, they are not necessarily friendly to being handled.
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rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
8 years ago
Looks like milkweed aphids to me....certainly aphids. Use streams of plain water to knock them off and smoosh a few with your fingers while you're at it.

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