Bugs , slugs, and thugs...Oh my!

Well found one JB today and where there is one more are sure to follow. Also those silver/bronze colored dumb beetles. I call them dumb 'cause unlike most other beetles that fly away or drop to the ground these just sit there and let you pick them off with no trouble at all. Also got a couple red devil stragglers. Crunch, crunch, crunch! ^_^

Had a beautiful pink lily open today....holes in every part of it....those red lily beetles are the worst!

jb's are out in mass here the last two days - spraying tomorrow

What do you spray?

the same bayer bug stuff i use in the veggy garden - i get it a home depot and is supposed to be safe on veggy's - it has not done a good job on the hardy hibiscus so far although it is hard to get it under the leaves

I've been picking them off and sending them to a soapy death

Found my first today on Lady in Red hydrangea. Found Red Lily Beetle on my peony!

The lily beetles eat different plants, but lay eggs on lilies & fritilaries.

Lily beetles & J.Beetles are here despite early treatments!!!

Hard to win the war against them!

Found something really gross, I thought my arborvitaes were struggling because of lack of rain but found little black worms in the pods on the trees, good thing my kids noticed one moving...I sprayed...but need to find what they are exactly...do this sound familiar???

Sound like gypsy moth caterpillars...should burn the nests right in the tree.

There are no tents,and the worm is solid black

Found what they are....

http://www.nfs.unl.edu/graphics/ForestHealth/bagworms.jpg

bagworms, now some research on how to kill them, I am soooooo skeeved out

Yuck.

Ok had I known what I was looking at when I first saw those dropping things....I thought they were part of the tree....oh brother....they say if there's not a lot to pick them off by hand...ewwwwwwwewwww
Then they list some checmicals to kill them(they say easier to kill when younger..UGH), I did spray with ortho multi bug but don't know the ingredients, I'll check that today.

The recommended chemicals carbaryl (Sevin, Carbaryl), Bacillus thuringiensis (Dipel, Javelin),malathion (Malathion), acephate (Orthene), trichlorfon (Dylox), bifenthrin (Talstar), cyfl uthrin (Tempo, Decathlon,Bayer Lawn and Garden Multi-Insect Killer), spinosad
(Conserve SC, SpinTor), and lambda-cyhalothrin (Scimitar).

Where are the birds? They should be getting rid of these pests for us.

They said the natural predator for these bag worms are wasps, but the arborvitaes that are being attacked are right next to my deck, so I can't attract wasps there...I always end up getting stung.

And I thought Arborvitaes are supposed to be low maintenance!! Ugh are any plants safe from constant treating these days!?

Ugh, I did all this cleaning up around them tonight and my stupid dog ripped apart the bags and emptied them all out...ARRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH, if I had a gun I would have shot the dog!!!!!
SO help me all those stinkin' bag worms better have been dead or else they are just going to crawl across the yard tonight right back to the arborvitaes.
Can a dog die from Sevin?

Oh no! I'm not sure, but that can't be good for him!

oh that can't be good Jen

Found my first JB yesterday, hoping not many this year. Using BT will reduce next years local population. Ric

Oh, poor dog...hope he's all right!

Eh.... he's fine, the idiot.

Funny...that's the same name as my airedale.....

lol

How did you agree to the dog, Jen??

Ugh, I must have been out of my mind. He's a german shepherd, thought he'd be a little smarter.

Dogs noses give them 'interesting' ideas of what to play with that we don't have to try.

I saw a hummingbird at my new Lillies from Brent and Benky's Royal Sunset, it was really cool... I think that's the first time I've seen one at any bulb lillies I grow. I also saw him go to Daylillies. So now I'm feeling real guilty about that Bayer product, I also have noticed that the main ingredient is not spinosad.. I could have sworn it was . IT is actually that name a.k.a. Merit. So I've tried to look up whether or not that is bad for pollinators and I found very conflicting information between Bayer and lots of advocate type groups including the bee keepers in France who have banned the use of the product which had been heavily used as a seed coat after the ban on a different chemical that killed ... bees! Hmmm this is why I keep whishing that there were an organic method for me to these pretty lilies that are so easy and love my dry sand for soil which is a very hard trait to find. There have been no studies on Hummingbirds, butterflies or other pollinators which it seems EPA is in the process of a study on this, if it is bad they will ban it.. Anyone found anything organic? I know there is a parasitic bug they are experimenting with too. Wish they'd find something safe soon! I love my lillies.. I just dug up the Lollipops and Chiantiu. They are out with their roots baking in the sun, so I know they are good and dead before I throw them in the trash... I want to cry but I am only keeping three kinds. That way I have less maintenaince, haven't decided which to keep..

My Japanese beetles are out in full force, munching the blooms on my 61 rose bushes....leaves are not too bad since I spray with Spinosad...there are a couple kinds...captain jack's bug killer and this one I'm using:

http://www.amazon.com/Green-Light-Organic-Control-Spinosad/dp/B000BO8XZO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1278488764&sr=8-1

It is concentrated, so one bottle lasts the season. Toxic to bees for three hours after application, so I do it right at dusk when they go in for the night...usually around 8pmish this time of year.They still eat the blooms since they open and change too frequently to spray, but if it preserves the rose foliage I can prune out the dead blooms when they go and hopefully get another show for the rest of the season.

I did put out four of the JB traps this year. I figure, I have every beetle in the neighborhood coming for the roses anyway, so the traps can't possibly be adding more. Lined four of them up against my woods. My neighbor and I have one big 3 acre parcel and then acres of woods in back of us so we are more isolated than someone in the suburbs who might be attracting them over the fence...that is my theory anyway....and I'm sticking to it! Did milky spore 1.5 years ago and nematodes in the spring on both our yards...still seems like we have tons of beetles, but maybe it is better for all I know. I'm hearing lately of people who put down milky spore and think it isn't doing anything and five years later they all of a sudden get no beetles, so that is what I'm hanging on to!

Victor, I don't know if anyone answered this, but I had the same issue with the Saw Fly larve you did. They look like worms and last year I tried BT and they ate all my rose foliage since it did not work. Then my friend told me about Spinosad, I used that and kills the larve ASAP. I apply it every 3-4 weeks until late july when they vanish. Works great. I'm just careful about the bee issue. We have tons of honey and bumbles and I don't want to harm them, thus the night spraying. I've been known to do it when it is dark out.

Miles

Thanks, Miles. The soap works well - just have to apply it every few days.

I'm still waiting for the parasitic wasps to take care of those darn Sawfly larvae..... I may have to try the soap Victor!

Question???? Will my arborvitaes green up again, after being munched by those bag worms or should I trim all the brown off?

I'd trim when the weather gets cooler & wetter...don't stress the plants in this heat. I have seen a few JB, but not too many.....they seem to shun the Carefree roses.

A first - the JB's are eating the foliage on my crape Pocomoke.

Assault on the Aphid Cities
By Ninja Dahlianut

Dahlianut crouched behind the cotoneaster and scoped the aphid cities through her zoom lens. ‘Drat’ she muttered under her breath to her partner the Crazy Ole Cat, ‘Just as I feared. The ladybugs are already up and about. We must warn them to fly’.

The Crazy Ole Cat looked out from beneath the mugo pine and sighed. Sveltly he padded across the drive and with his tail in a question mark chirped at the lupins. ‘Ladybugs, ladybugs fly away home’. Then he lay down and examined his paw. Seconds later a whirl of ladybugs drifted away on the westerly breeze.

Dahlianut chuckled, ‘Good chat’. She looked grim. ‘There is not much we can do about the larvae but it is a sacrifice that the ladybugs understand. Now I must be quick like a bunny or all will be for naught.”

Doing a last minute equipment check was necessary:
Rain pants snuggly tucked in gumboots - check
Rain jacket tucked in cheerful yellow rubber gauntlets – check
Hair secure under hoodie – check
Utility apron contains –
Snippers – check
Mister bottle of insecticidal soap with setting on hard spray– check
3 large plastic garbage bags with ties – check

Taking a deep breath, she lept out from behind the cotoneaster and raced towards the aphid cities. At the same time the Crazy Ole Cat jumped up on the stoop and screeched ‘Clear!’

‘Clear!’ whirred the ladybugs from their shelter in the weeping caragana.

‘Clear!’ wafted the nearby Morden Sunrise rose who got caught up in the excitement.

Reaching the lupins, Dahlianut dropped to her knees and quickly snapped a garbage bag open with her left hand. Pulling it over a lupin to encase the aphid city, she cut the stalk of the lupin at ground level with her trusty snippers. Squeezing the bag closed over the stalk, she felt the slimey ooze of aphid guts under the plastic. She quickly tied it closed and secured it to her utility apron, then steeling her mind against an attack of the heebiejeebies, she moved on to the next lupin.

SNAP! The second garbage bag was open. But as Dahlianut drew it over the second lupin, the aphid city started to rise like a murky fog. “OMG Winged Ones!” she gasped in horror.

“SAVE YOUR SELF!” she screamed to the Crazy Ole Cat and threw herself to the ground, rolling over and over until she came to a rest behind the cotoneaster once again. Looking down to ensure the first aphid city was still secured to her apron, her breath caught in her throat. There were aphids crawling all over her rainsuit and probably under her hoodie and most probably in her HAIR!

‘Retreat to the hose! Retreat to the hose!’ she called to the Crazy Ole Cat as she stormed off through the woodland garden, acrawling with aphids. The Crazy Ole Cat sighed and looked thoughtfully after her.

* * * * * * * *

Early the next morning Dahlianut stood in the shade of the mountain ash and adjusted her utility apron one last time. She shifted both mister bottles to the front of their pockets and carefully released the safeties. “O how I hate dark ops” she grimaced ‘but there are no two ways about it’.

At her feet the Crazy Ole Cat lay on his back and waved his paws in the air. ‘I still don’t understand why we just don’t eat them’ he mused.

‘I’m not going there. Just remember your signal.’ Dahlianut pulled the drawstring tight on her hoodie and looked down at the cat ‘And your signal is?’

The Crazy Ole Cat jumped up and stretched. ‘You stomping up the drive. I lurk under the roadster until you stomp up and then I leap out, lashing my tail like a ferocious lion and chase all the bees away and then we have a saucer of milk’.

‘You mean you chase all the bees away and then you run really fast to our rendevous point’.

‘O ya. I run really fast to our rendevous point and THEN we have a saucer of milk.” Dahlia sighed and nudged his butt with her foot. ‘Go on. Get into position’

As the Crazy Ole Cat slunk under the roadster, Dahlianut checked the sun. The aphid cities were still in shade but the sunlight should hit them any minute. She hoped the momentary blindness caused by the sun would give her the advantage she needed. ‘Patience…. Patience’, she thought.

As the sunbeams struck the eastern city, Dahlianut took off at a full run across the lawn. As she passed the roadster, a strawberry blonde streaked out from under the car and bounded through the rockery, sending bees and flower petals flying. Nearing the aphid cities, Dahlianut drew her mister bottles and commenced firing a semi-automatic hard spray of insecticidal soap at the tallest aphid tower. Hoards of aphids rose up and swarmed towards her but she stood her ground and continued to fire.

Just as the aphids were about to land on Dahlianut’s rainsuit, they started dropping to the ground. At the same time billions of aphids were cascading down the towers of the cities like rain.

Dahlianut dropped her weapons, grabbed a garbage bag from her apron and once again dropped to her knees in front of the lupins. She almost lost her balance in the aphid slime covering the driveway but managed to bag and tag the remaining two aphid cities.

As she got to her feet, Dahlianut saw the Crazy Ole Cat sitting on the shale path in the woodland garden. Trudging wearily down the path she shook her head. The shale path was SO not the rendevous point but what did it matter now.

‘Are they offed? Can I go look?’ asked the Crazy Ole Cat.

‘No. I have to gather the corpses and hose off the driveway first so you don’t get any soap on your fur’

The Crazy Ole Cat took a step back up the path, looking anxious ‘I don’t like things on my fur’. Then opening his golden eyes wide he added ‘But I DO like a saucer of milk’.

‘You do too good buddy. So white stuff for you and a cuppa for me and then we shall commence the Assault on the Weeds”

THE END.

WAY too many words for me. How does it end?

Dahlianut: 3 cities Aphids: 0 cities

edit: o but I did get slimed.

This message was edited Jul 7, 2010 4:28 PM

LOL I love this! What an adventure. Success in the end and the cuppa and saucer are well deserved rewards for heroism under fire. Well done that!