Interestingly, my passion vines (P. edulis) don't have any caterpillars on them. However, my potato vines have so many on them, that most of the leaves are gone. To save the other vines growing nearby, I had to spray with some organic caterpillar/bug killer (got it from Home Depot). I hate caterpillars, and by extension, butterflies too. They almost defoliated my plum trees.

Those bugs may be a part of the problem or they may be of no concern. The pictures are too fuzzy to see. You may wish to take a couple into the local office of your Texas A & M Cooperative Extension Service for identification. What has your weather been like? Have you had a lot of rain and is the ground saturated? Have you had a drought so the soil is now too dry to support trees and shrubs? kimmq is kimmsr

These bugs are all over the weeds in our lawn, and produce a reddish stain when squished. I think they’re good, as they stick to the weeds and haven’t attacked the grass. At least, I hope so. Does anyone, know what they are and are they actually killing the weeds?

Ah, yes. The ubiquitous leaf footed bugs! I grew up with them in TX. They supposedly inhabit MN, but I never saw any there. Apparently, they discovered the OR Trail, because they’re here, too. Honestly, their leafy spined legs are kinda cool. As a kid I tread lightly around them so that they wouldn’t startle and stink spray. They can cause some browning on rose blooms as they suck a bit of the juice with their snouty proboscis. Fortunately, they don’t usually become a huge issue, not like a plague of Japanese beetles or grasshoppers or (shudder) chili thrips. I get more of the shield bug types in my garden but usually just ignore them. Last year, I spotted a pile of variegated carpet beetles on my giant cow parsnip blooms (native not the invasive hogweed) and my La Ville de Bruxelles rose. I know carpet beetles are out there—flying around, hanging out in bird’s nests, feeding on pollen, etc.—but I seriously had to make myself take a deep breath and deal. I mean…carpet beetles! 😳 Carol