I decided to use spinosad and premethrin to combat bad bugs in my garden this year and sprayed about 4 days ago but, in my container garden I have located these bugs and don't know if they are good or bad bugs and was needing help identifying them, I will list where they are and a description in the hopes someone might can tell me. Around my potatoes which are in smart pots, I'm seeing this itsy bitsy white moths, this metallic green fly keeps swooping in on the potato leaf. Now around my tomatoes I sawing flying black specks and a really slender flying thing that had a long slender body, and really long slender wings, it's black. What have I got here?
joy
Help needed here
Just guessing here. Without pics it can be difficult to know for sure.
"itsy bitsy white moths" - Sounds like whiteflies(BAD, I hate them more than any other bug) http://www.harrylawson.me.uk/Pestsanddiseases/images/CabbageWhiteFly.jpg
"metallic green fly" - Could just be a Green Bottle Fly or Halictid bee(Good guys) http://bugguide.net/node/view/81281
"flying black specks" - Fungus gnats or winged aphids(both bad) http://www.srgc.org.uk/bulblog/log2008/051108/Winged%20aphid.jpg
"slender flying thing that had a long slender body, and really long slender wings, it's black" - Some type of wasp maybe?
Ray: That first pic is exactly what I see. I have sprayed with spinosad and premethrin so I hope it works, it rained today, and tomorrow it is supposed to be thunderstorms too, but Wed we get a break and I will spray again then. The white flies seem to be flying around my smart pots with my taters in them, (sniffles), the flying black specks around my maters. I saw an assinationation bug though too, I think, it bit me; which I read they will do that; but, it's a good bug so I will leave it alone for sure. Saw the first of two baby tomatoes today on one of my plants.
joy
My advice on whiteflies is to take care of them asap. If they are new to your yard, hopefully you can make it less hospitable for them and they move to a new location. Make sure you spray under the leaves. Also look underneath a few leaves and hopefully you don't see any white spirals. That means they're setting up shop. I don't like to spray unless absolutely necessary, but these guys are one spray resistant bug. I've been been shredding mylar as mulch and using yellow sticky traps. It helps but they're always around waiting.
I think your potatoes are gonna be fine. They seem far enough along. From the pics you posted they probably have already started forming taters. My peppers are already showing signs of puckered and cupped leaves from them. Happily, once established, peppers are a tough plant to kill.
Ray: This weather won't let up, we are getting one thunderstorm right after another and it will be that way til tomorrow, I've been on searches already, found some baby tomatoes, but looking for frass trails and under leaves for any signs of bug gatherings for their parties on my plants, so far, nothing; but they set up so fast. I thought about gathering any horned catepillars I might find and putting them into a bird feeder but don't want my birds to get lazy either. LOL
joy