I am going to place pictures of bugs, which are real pests and do a lot of damage to brugmansias in Europe.
This is a Blattwanze, Eurydema oleraceum. The body is flat and the greenish color can differ.
Do you have these pests also and what is the english name?
Just bugs?
Another Blattwanze Pentatoma rufipes. The greenish color can differ
Monika, the common name is "cabbage bug", but fortunately for us, it is not known to occur in the USA. John
Thank you, John. The german common name is Kohlwanze = cabbage bug. I wished, it would prefer only cabbage.
Another bug, Zikade, Empoasca. We have different kinds of them from 3mm up and many are pests on brugmansias beside the above bugs and the damage, they do, looks much like bug damage.
Monika, is the Zikade a bright green colour? We have a little bug that looks like that but green, and on hot summer days they are all over the brugs, bouncing about.
In my 'Sunset Problem Solver' there are articles on what looks like these insects, there is no latin name to verify.
There is one article on insects that look like your Eurydema, called Stinkbugs, Lygus bugs, and Harlequin bugs. They all give off an offensive odour when crushed.
Stinkbugs and lygus bugs eat fruit like tomatos, pears/plums and foliage (sucking), while harlequin bugs eat cabbage, broccoli and greens.
The zikade looks like what we call a 'leafhopper'. They can be green, yellow or white. There are 2500 species. LOL. Ours are a bright green with orange markings. They bounce from plant to plant. They are also sucking insects, making leaves look bleached. I regularly see them on my brugs but they don't seem to cause me too much trouble.
Not all of them are pests. Some of these bugs eat other insects some are really pests. These Zikades look like small leaf hoppers. A very awful pest is the Rhododendronzikade.
We have cucumber beetles Monika........... that eat everything in my yard and I have never even grown cucumbers!! Do you have those?
Kell, those things destroyed my brug blooms all summer and fall. I have to find something that will keep them away or dead...........just ruined the looks of the brugs in Iowa. Kyle had them too. Horrible creatures. I had cukes, but they preferred the brug blooms. The never did any damage to the leaves.
My cucumber beetles love blooms but ate my brug leaves also. Now I have some new evil doer that just started with the bad storm this last week. There are holes but more just half circle cuts........ what do you think caused this? They are on all my brugs in one section. Some are just in tatters. Any help would be apprecitated. thanks
Looks like you had a little hail. Even twigs blowing off the trees will go through the leaves, but really does look like hail damage.
Gee Brugie, that could be, LOL!! We had hail, while Tom was on the roof trying to cover the roof with plastic. I never thought of that.
What would you think if I sang out of tune
Would you stand up and walk out on me
Lend me your ears and I'll sing you a song
And I'll try not o sing out of key
Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends
Mm, I get brug info with a little help from my friends
Mm, gonna try with a little help from my friends
What do I do when my brugs won't grow?
Does it worry you that I need so much help?
How do I feel by the end of the day
I am glad because I am not on my own
Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends
Mm, I get brug info with a little help from my friends
Mm, gonna try with a little help from my friends
Do you need anybody
I need something to grow
Could it be anybody
I want somebody to be just like you
Would you believe in a love at first sight
Yes, I'm certain that it happens all the time
What do you see when you look out in the yard
I can tell you it grew from info that is yours
Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends
Mm, I get brug info with a little help from my friends
Mm, gonna try with a little help from my friends
Do you need anybody
I need something to grow
Could it be anybody
I want somebody to be just like you
Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends
Mm, I get brug info with a little help from my friends
Mm, gonna try with a little help from my friends
Yes I get by with a little help from my friends
With a little help from my friends
kell,your sangs are out of tune????
Monika, I've asked BugGuy to come over and see if he can help too. Hope you don't mind. He has helped us here before. Hope he isn't gone for the holidays, but if he is, I hope he has a great time.
Brugie my thought also. BugGuy helped me identify some. Monika just e-mail him the pictures of the bugs and he will identify them for you.
I wrote him and he is not able to see the pictures here on Daves right now, so I emailed the pictures to him. I'm sure he will get back to us soon. Donna, we are thinking alike. Now, if you like chocolate like I do, we are bound to be best buddies. LOL!!
Hi Folks! Brugie asked me to check this thread out so here I am! I don't pretend to know a lot about European insects, but hopefully I can help with some general information about the above 3 bugs and their relatives.
I found several references to Eurydema oleraceum on the net: As Pardancana said, it was frequently referred to as the 'cabbage bug.' I found several references for Pentatoma rufipes as the 'forest bug.' Both insects are members of the insect order Hemiptera (true bugs) and belong to the family Pentatomidae (stink bugs).
Empoasca is a large genus, with species being widespread throughout North, Central and South America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. These belong to the leafhopper family called Cicadellidae. Specifically, Empoasca belong to a large group (or subfamily) of pest leafhopper species known as the Typhlocybinae. These insects belong to the order Homoptera, which are closely related to the above-referenced Hemiptera. Some entomologists do consider the Homoptera and Hemiptera to be one order only. In North America it is estimated that there are over 700 species of Typhlocybinids!
Monika is right, not all insects within this particular group are plant pests. Some are predatory on other insects. Leafhoppers feed principally on specific host plant species with their sucking mouthparts. Stink bugs (Pentatomidae) can be plant or insect feeders, or in some cases, a combination of both.
Regarding P. rufipes, I found a link: http://www.tiscali.co.uk/reference/encyclopaedia/wildlife/insects_forest_bug.html that referred P. rufipes as a plant feeder, mainly oaks. Another reference here: http://www.inra.fr/Internet/Produits/HYPPZ/RAVAGEUR/6eurole.htm lists E. oleraceum as a plant feeder only - mainly on cabbages and other crucifers, but that it will ocassionally attack potato.
Monika, I'm not sure I will have all the bug answers, but if I can be of any additional help with translations please don't hesitate to contact me via email. Because of the winter 'slowdown' and the holidays I'm not checking in at Dave's as frequently as I should!
Thank you very much. This was very informative. I didnt know, if you have several of these bugs. I needed to know before the translation. Stinkbugs are the same as Stinkwanzen, so we are peretty close. I post a picture of the damage, done on Brugmansia. They suck and the saliva is poisonous. The small holes enlargen and on the picture shows clear the damage.
Does anyone of you know the latin name of cucumber beetle?
We dont have beetles, which attack especially Brugmansias.
Does he bite pieces out of the leave like a scissors cut?
Monika....They will eat the starts(Fresh Leaf) of anything in a garden or a greenhouse. And the only way to combat them(Organically) is to SQUISSSSSSSSHHH them.
You asked the latin names:
Striped Cuke Beetle is: Acalymma vittatum
Spotted Cuke Beetle is: Diabrotica undecimpunctata howardi
Such big names for those little buggers.
Here take a look http://www.uky.edu/Agriculture/Entomology/entfacts/veg/ef311.htm
Would you like some? I only send them 'SASE'...I'll supply the envelope and the postage!...LOL.
ZZ.
Monika, there are over 330 species of cucumber beetles in the genus Diobrotica. About 300 of them are confined to central and south America, with the remainder found in north America.
The spotted cucumber beetle (Diobrotica undecimpunctata) is one of the more widespread north American species. In the southwestern U.S. where I live, D. undecimpunctata is present, and D. balteata (the banded cucumber beetle) is becoming more abundant. Originally this insect was confined to the tropics and barely into the U.S. in southern Texas and southern Arizona. It has been gradually spreading into other southern states including Florida and southern California. D. balteata probably won't spread to more northern latitudes because of its susceptibility to frost.
In Europe, the western corn rootworm (Diobrotica virgifera), a non-native species accidentally introduced into Yugoslavia around 1992, is spreading and causing widespread damage to corn and other crops. This species causes widespread destruction to corn crops in the midwestern U.S. More on this species' progress in Europe can be found here http://www.eppo.org/QUARANTINE/Diabrotica_virgifera/diabrotica_virgifera.html
In addition to Diobrotica, there are many other beetles in the family Chrysomelidae that could potentially do damage to Brugmansia and Datura. Another common beetle where I live is the three-lined potato beetle (Lema trilineata). I see this insect commonly on Datura wrightii here in southern California. In fact, it is usually more common than either D. undecimpunctata or D. balteata. I've observed Lema eating both the leaves and flowers. Presumably this insect could spread to Brugmansia as well?
Thank you very much for your very informative post. The cucumber beetle would need more than winter boots to survive in our climate. Glad to know, because we have we have enough pests of our own to fight off. Potato beetle do not feed on my brugmansias. The beetle is not adjusted to my cold climate. The potato beetle has almost been eliminated in potato growing areas of Germany.
One more question: Caterpillars of Agrotis belong to the worst of these species. It belongs to the family of Noctuidae - Eulenfalter. The damage on brugmansias is enormous. Are they known in the US? Spider mites and their tiny relatives, aphids, thrips and snails seem to be the pests, we both have to conquer with.
Yes, there are many species of Agrotis in the U.S. I have battled larvae of these (species undetermined) on my Brugmansia. The various Agrotis species don't really have a common name, although noctuid moth larvae in general are referred to as cutworms.
Hi Monika, the type we have here are called "Shield Beetles" because of their shape!
Bruno
