I found several of these on a Habanero plant (and one or two on a Serrano). There does not seem to be any damage. I'm in New Windsor, NY. Photo taken today (6/15).
It seems to look similar to the earlier stages of a stink bug, but it is darker than the photos I am finding online. Whatever it is, will it hurt my pepper plants?
This message was edited Jun 15, 2015 8:47 PM
It looks like an instar of a brown marmorated stink bug. An expert like Flapdoodle can hopefully confirm.
Yeah, I was just figuring it out. Thank you. So I should be killing them, huh?
If that's what they are, post haste!
Post haste. We keep plastic cups with water and a few drops of soap stationed around the garden for the purpose. We call it a pool party. No need to get nuts with spray. If there are more than you can deal with you can use spinosad.
Definitely look like an early instar nymph of the brown marmorated stink bug - http://www.maine.gov/dacf/php/gotpests/bugs/images/brown-marm-stink/br-marm-stink-stages-big.jpg
I like that, MaypopLaurel... Pool party. :) We do the same thing, but I take the soap water in when I am not actively using it. We've lost a few beneficials by leaving it out. Why they are drawn to it, I never know.
It is later in the season when we have troubles. The only thing we are spraying now (with GreenBug) is the cabbage to prevent an infestation of the Cabbage White larvae. Most often I just squish things with my fingers. We do not have a very large food garden, so it is not as time consuming as for some.
Yes, I am new to this gardening thing (I just started my first real job, so I can finally finance it). I've only been killing things by hand too but want to make sure I'm not taking out the good guys. I found out I also have flea beetles on my tomato leaves- I will probably start using the pool party for those because I can't squish them (although I hope it kills them quickly- I really can't watch them struggle, even if they are terrible for us).
Welcome to the world of gardening where you will surely learn as much about bugs and diseases as you will plants. To start off you need to know that herding cats would be easier than directing flea beetles to a pool party. Plus, they breed faster than cats. I row cover young plants and spray when necessary. Once the plants are more mature the flea beetles move on. They love eggplants even more than ttomatoes.
Chilly, the cups with water are usually dumped at the end of the party and our session in the garden. Empties are left on posts. You might see a couple in this photo.
