BUGS

We've had a terrible time with our fruit trees this year. We had some lovely immature cherries that just seemed to disappear (that may have been bluejays). Then we noticed the leaves curling and turning black. Yesterday we spotted quite a lot of these critters on the leaves; we thought they looked pretty evil and so took a sample into the garden shop to see if they could identify them.





Turns out they are ladybug larvae!! The good guys. They have invaded our cherry tree because it is so full of aphids and they're having a feast. And we were ready to smash them all and go buy some ladybugs. I wondered why we weren't seeing aphids on our artichokes like we usually do -- they're all having a big party in the cherry tree!

What bugs are you dealing with in your garden?

Japanese Beetles have feasted on my Morning Glory. When I found them munching on my basil, I sprayed garlic spray on everything and that seems to be keeping them away - so far.

And your garden won't be bothered by vampires either!

And I hadn't even considered that benefit!
It also keeps away the vampires close relatives -mosquitoes.

Stinkbugs. The scourge of the summer.

This fellow destroyed my dill plant. I was told on another thread that it's an anise swallowtail caterpillar.

The Japanese beetles have landed. Anyone know of a good way to deal with them?

>7 amancine: They are horrible horrible creatures. I read an interesting article about them the other day, but that won't help you now. I tore up the hollyhocks because I couldn't find a way to deal with the Japanese beetles.

We have Japanese beetles all over the place. We bought some of those hanging traps (which I hate, they look like mini trash bags on a stick) and they seem to be helping.

Japanese Beetles have been falling into my rain guage. I dump it out in the toilet & flush them away.

Wonder what attracts them to the rain gauge?

Teelgee, we've been wondering the same thing. As far as I know, the only thing that collects in the rain guage is rain water. My grandaughter thought they just wanted a drink. At first, I suspected something was dropped in the guage. but that's been a couple weeks & it's been emptied 3 or 4 times at least.

I bet you gardeners are all familiar with this guy that I caught munching on my Mandarin tree:



And his friend:

Jiminey Cricket!

I managed to capture various cycles of the ladybugs all on one leaf:

Those are amazing pictures!!

I tried to take a some pictures of a Gulf Fritillary on my butterfly bush (Buddleja davidii 'Black Knight'). Since he was flitting around, most were blurred, but two turned out well. (Click for full-sized picture)

Gorgeous!

Who, but me, would call a bug gorgeous?! :)

These guys love my peonies and lilacs.

Ew!!! :)

Great picture, though!

>20 SqueakyChu: You mean you don't think it is gorgeous too? :)

>19 DaynaRT: Great picture! What is it? From the eyes, I'd guess some sort of fly, but why is it attracted to your peonies and lilacs?

>20 SqueakyChu: Thanks!

>21 christiguc:
It's a species of Long-legged Fly. I don't know what it is, but lots of them hang out on the leaves of those plants all day long. There are bright blue varieties of them too which makes for a colorful display.

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No!! Because I always associate those brightly-colored flies with horse dung. :(

...but it is interesting...as are all insects to me.

Do you know this website: What's That Bug? It's full of amazing photos and information. You can send photos of bugs and they'll tell you what it is.

Thanks for the link. I think I've actually used that website before. It looks very familiar to me.

>24 teelgee: Wow, teelgee--that's a neat site!

This is a common whitetail dragonfly (Plathemis lydia). This is a female (the males have a white abdomen, hence the "whitetail"). They are actually quite large, about 3-inches wingspan, and they remind me of those old-style biplanes. :)

Amazing! I love dragonflies. christiguc - I've spent hours on that bug site. I find it fascinating that there are so many thousands of different bugs in the world.

I think it's funny that we all have turned out to be bug people!

I used to collect insects as a kid. I had all the moms in the neighborhood mad at me when I had their kids bringing home bugs and saving them.

I used to mount them and label them. Then, one sad day, my mother threw them all away. The best bug I had in my collection was a stag beetle. Now I feel rather bad about all the butterflies that I killed just to mount. I'd never do that any more.

I wrote a song about 15 years ago called "I Love Bugs!"

Er, would you sing it for us?

White tails are neat! This one hung out on my garage for two days without moving. I think a bird finally got dinner out of it.

I know! They must not have that many natural predators because they don't act very evasive. They like to sun themselves on the stone bricks, and I have to be careful not to step on them because they won't move out of the way of my feet!

Two I saw today -

Potter Wasp (Eumenes fraternus): they make tiny mud sacs along the length of a twig and insert an egg into each one. Then they feed them caterpillar larvae.


and everyone's favorite.....the House Fly!

>31 SqueakyChu: SqueakyChu -- heh heh. If I can dig up the lyrics, I'll post them! It's meant to be a kids' song.

fleela, those are great photos!

Excellent photos, fleela! That wasp looks evil.

Yesterday evening, I saw a leopard moth (Hypercompe scribonia) caterpillar. It was a good 2.5 inches long, and even though I knew what it was, I shrieked when I saw it. Usually they flee or curl up, but this one stretched out and charged at me!!! And it moved quick!! So, of course, I went and got my camera and caught a picture of it finally fleeing.



I don't have a picture of a leopard moth, but if you want to see what one looks like, check here on Wikipedia.

>34 DaynaRT: fleela, very pretty picture of a fly :-)

I am not that much in bugs, but I like the pictures here. I don't like most of them in my garden ;-)

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Ew ... to the housefly. They're so pesty ... even though your picture is great!

Those white tails are great - I don't think I have ever seen one.

And teelgee - thanks for posting the link to What's That Bug?. That is a great resource, and the photos are fascinating (although I hate the idea that they have spiders on there - I just about have a heart attack whenever I see one, and besides, they are not insects). I have starred this thread for future reference.

I haven't seen a fuzzy caterpillar yet this season. Thanks for the picture!

Another great photo site is http://www.insectimages.org/, the source for Entomology Photos. A joint project of the University of Georgia and the USDA Forest Service.

You can also contribute pictures to the site.

I have the greatest bug that frequents my garden, the butterfly bush specifically. I have never seen one until now. It resembles a bird so closely that I had to get up close and really look. Of course, it was smaller than a bird but I though maybe some sort of hummingbird because that is what it most resembled. It is black and yellow and has wings that allow it to hover like the hummingbird. It curls its tail under like the h-bird and has a straw-like snout that it gets the nectar with. I could not manage to get a picture it moves so fast but it looked like an insect version of a hummingbird-that's the best way to describe it. I can try one of the sites you all mentioned and see if anybody has it on their site. Also, a most beautiful flower just bloomed in my wildflower garden. It is just exquisite. It is hot pink and then turned lighter pink. I don't know how to describe it. I will take a picture and get it on the sight and if I have'nt been able to identify it, I'm sure one of you will be able to. Have a great gardening day.

>42 mmignano11:
Hummingbird Hawk-moth? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macroglossum_stellatarum

These are evil evil evil evil creatures. It's not so much the damage they do to my plants--I don't have an infestation, so any damage is just aesthetic and minimal. However, I guess they are territorial because whenever I inadvertently get too close to one (if I am deadheading roses, merely cleaning things up, or walk by with the wrong attitude), they zoom right at my face. I suppose I just need to learn that my "startle" reaction shouldn't be to open my mouth and gasp. . .

Leaffooted bug (Leptoglossus phyllopus) on bronze fennel (Foeniculum vulgare 'Purpureum')



>6 SqueakyChu: I much preferred sharing my fennel with the anise swallowtail caterpillars. :(

I found some creatures I mistook for bees at first. But they were actually bee-like robber flies (my variety: Mallophora fautrix), also known as Bee-Killers. They kill bees, but I'm not sure I want to get rid of them--they fascinate me.

Wow, really interesting looking critters!

Love their eyes! Don't they look like buttons? :)

Or coffee beans.

Yeah. Those, too!

They look almost unreal, more like a fisherman's hand tied fly than a real bug.