Friend or Foe #3

I tried that approach with Japanese beetles, to no avail. Maybe I didn't steep long enough.... I think we applied it right away. As I recall, we ended up with a sort of slurry that didn't spray well (clogged up the nozzle), so we splashed it around, and the beetles just didn't seem to care.

Yes, the guy who told me this is a chemist, and he was VERY specific about steeping and spraying. Getting the hormones concentrated, then diluting them. He said when they are being chopped up, they give off a hormone to warn others. That is what keeps them away.

I haven't had a need to do it. But I did apply some semaspore this year, just a little along one edge of the garden, and I have seen reduced numbers.

Help! Does anyone know what this funky looking fly is?

Thanks,
Kelly

First, I want to thank NB for these threads -- they are soooo interesting and valuable, especially for garden newbies like me.

Now, can anyone help me with this? http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/520935/

There are so many of them all over our garden and I'm not sure if I should be destroying them or not. Is it just a spider nest?

Also, I grew up in L.A. County, too, and I remember those big black shiny bees -- I always thought they looked like flying fat olives! They scared me silly. I've never seen a picture of them and would love to know what they are.

Kathleen

Hi Kathleen, we met on the "californians" thread (you and I discussed our weeds), anyway, re: the black bees. Flying olives! That's good! Since I posted about them I've looked and looked for pictures to no avail. All I can find are statements such as: "bumblebees usually are black and orange, but are sometimes solid black. And usually harmless." Yesterday one came very near me in the garden and I studied him closely and could find no orange anywhere, so I guess they are just gigantic black bumblebees! (or flying olives...;->) One day I'll get a good pic and post it.

I love this thread too, thanks again, NB, for starting and continuing it!!!! Have any of you seen a bright white 'bug' that when you touch it, it zooms away, faster than the speed of lightening?? I thought it was part of a white crepe myrtle flower, but when I nudged it, poof, it was gone, no way to photo it. TIA!!!

Hi, Margu! Glad I found someone else who has seen my flying olives! When I was a kid, I only ever had a brief look because I'd take off like a bullet if I saw one. My mother (91) keeps telling me how proud she is that I'm gardening now -- considering how terrified I was of bees as a child. Some of us just take longer to grow up. :-)

Kathleen, I couldn't see what you were referring to in your picture?

Kelly, looks like a beautiful bee to me...

LOL TamaraFaye, you're not the first person to say that! To me it's like an elephant in the room. :-)

The red wood is a post -- the faint lines running across it are like a web, then just inside the right edge of the post is a columnar 'thing' that looks like a cocoon. It's almost like a string with beads on it. Does that help?

Kathleen

That is one SKINNY elephant LOL I saw that, but thought they were holes in the wood. I have never seen eggs like that, I thought all spiders put their eggs in round white cases... Are those eggs or could they be well kept future meals? I might remove some and place carefully in a canning jar WITH LID to observe.

Wish Night_Bloom were here.... where are you NB?

Sorry guys - had a little minor out-patient surgery that tired me out. I'm back now.

I'm going to try to answer everyone's questions. If I forget anybody please forgive me and just remind me gently.

margu - wish I could help you with the grasshoppers, but once they get big, they are hard to kill. They aren't so much of a problem here in the east. The advice TamaraFaye gave you sounds like good advice to me, especially getting them when they are young.

Sherry - I'm glad that you haven't seen any more leaf rollers, and yeah, I didn't suspect that yours were bean leaf rollers. They don't make that much silk. They are just the ones that I am familiar with and an example that not all leaf rollers are ugly.

Kelly - that looks like a sweat bee to me (family Halictidae). They are good pollinators but can be attracted to people's sweat - just don't squash them on your skin and they won't sting you.

Kathleen - I couldn't see your picture well enough to be positive what it was. My guess would be something spider related - maybe a temporary hideaway or a bird warning - but I can't be sure. Spiders often put things or spin things into their webs either to hide behind or to show birds that something is there so that the birds don't fly through their webs. It might also be, as TamaraFaye said, rolled-up spider meals.

I'll try to give a better picture tomorrow night. For now, here is a thread waisted wasp (family Sphecidae). It is called this because of its tiny waist (see arrow on second view). These are often predators on spiders and other insects. Some dig in the ground. This species makes "cocoons" out of pieces of grass which is what this particular wasp emerged out of - a grass cocoon someone had sent me for identification.

Oops - I forgot about Sherry's white bug, but I have no idea at this point. All the white bugs that I can think of would be fluffy and slow moving. A picture would help - or you could try looking at the Homoptera on bugguide.net. Use the search box on the site. It's a very helpful site.

That is such a cool lookin wasp!

Sorry to hear you had to have surgery -- glad it was minor, glad you are back :-) We've missed your teachings. As for myself, I am HOOKED on them and this thread...

Night, there is no way to capture the 'white ghost' bug because, until you nudge it, it looks like a leaf, or piece of paper. It is shaped sorta like stink but, but smaller and flatter, about the size of a large flea, but it doesn't have wings, that I could see. What I thought was flying, might be jumping...I will check the site, thanks, Night, and I hope your injury is all well...

i found a picture of a planthopper, looked just like a leaf, but green, really cool... and very small too... i just love that site... i looked some more and found a white one. Even if this isn't it, thought it owuld be fun to post it here, oops, just the link, the photos are copyrighted...

green one... http://bugguide.net/node/view/16310

white one... http://bugguide.net/node/view/16313

they have other colors too, I suppose to camoflouge them, and the color determines what they like to eat on???

Great site, Tam!!! Nope, the white one is not it. The bug is shaped sorta like a tiny stink bug, but flat, and moves with incredible speed, but it might 'hop', I do not think it has wings. I realize now that I saw one last year, thought it was my imagination, whew...

Thanks, NB. If I ever get a better picture of my spider hideaway I'll post it here. Might try the jar with a lid trick too.

My thanks, too, for the wonderful info in this thread. It's great to have so much input. I found this guy in a ragged rosebud today. I've never seen anything like him. I hope he's eating whatever ate the rosebud, but I thought I'd check if you knows who he is.

mickgene - get outta my head! I was just over in the bugguide.net trying to find out what these are. We have had a lot of them this year. I have been calling them strawberry butt bugs (-: I hope NB knows!

-Kim

mickgene- it looks like your bug is eating a leaf-eating beetle in your picture there if I am seeing it correctly. It looks to me like you've got a baby wheel bug. They are very good insect predators. I posted a picture of an adult and talked about it on the first post of thread #2. I don't have a picture of a nymph myself yet, but just to make sure that's what you've got, here is a link to bugguide again showing a bunch of shots of wheel bug nymphs in various stages of growth. I talked a little bit about wheel bug nymphs at the bottom of thread #2, but the link I'm giving here is better - it has multiple stages of the wheel bug's growth rather than just the babies.

wheel bugs... http://bugguide.net/node/view/454/bgimage .

And thank you Tamara and Sherry - no injury, just a very small "structural malformation" the mammogram assay techs didn't like, so out it came just to be sure.

This message was edited Jun 20, 2005 4:46 PM

I like strawberry butt bug; who do we petition for a legal name change? Thanks for the link, NB. I'm going right there.

Night Bloom strikes again! Once again, if I had thought about it... but they just don't look anything like the adults Last year we had lots of wheel bugs, so there ya go.

I sound so much more intelligent saying " that is a predatory Wheel Bug Nymph" rather than strawberry butt bug. Try it yourself and see.

NB - I can get you pictures. They are living on my sunflower plants and various other places.

-Kim

NB, i have a spider question or maybe a spider problem. ive always liked wolf spiders, but we just moved into a new house. for 6 mos. now i have been killing giant wolf spiders. im sorry, they are just too big to live in the house with me. their bodies are as big or bigger than quarters and the leg spread is approx. 3" or alittle bigger. ive probubly killed 30 smaller ones and at least 15 of these giants. arent they supposed to be outside? i got rid of all the packing boxes etc. i hate to fumigate the whole house, but im getting close! thanks

Here's a new visitor in my yard.

trackinsand, I don't think wolf spiders are supposed to get that big, in Florida or Texas LOL. You may be dealing with something else. If you could find their nests, set out sticky traps, find out who their predator is and get some. Anything but fumigate! Some spiders make their homes in strange places. I had a friend who got rid of three old couches in the spare room, because that is what her spiders were nesting in, and they were about that size, turned out to be a less dangerous cousin of the brown recluse...

koncreteblond, she is quite elegant, but needs to shave her legs :-) Never seen anything like it!

We had tons of wolf spiders in and around our house after it was first built. I sprinkled Cedarcide all around the foundation and that kept them outside.

trakinsand - usually wolf spiders do prefer to be outside. I am wondering, do you have spaces beneath any exterior doors? I posted a picture of a wolf spider on one of my previous threads. I actually watched that spider come in under my kitchen door. We even had a storm door at the time (it since "exploded" for no apparent reason), but it had blown open slightly with the wind, and in only that small moment, it was enough for the wolf spider to stumble on into the kitchen. Imagine what would happen if there was a space beneath any exterior door all the time? This can especially be a problem for doors such as French doors which are on patio level. Since you are in Florida, I am assuming that there isn't a basement, but basement doors are a major access point for crawling critters, because they rarely have storm doors.

Before spraying around your home (which is usually a temporary fix anyway), I would suggest having good doorsweeps installed - there are a few different kinds, but generally the idea is that they reach all the way to the threshold. They are "moveable" - usually either a brush or flexible rubber - so they should allow door movement but still block any gaps beneath the doors. Home Depot, Lowe's, etc. have them and the people there could probably answer any questions about them. See if that helps - it might help keep all sorts of critters from getting in.

Other ideas - decrease harborage areas around the foundation and especially exterior doors. Spiders like places to hide and they like insects (which also like places to hide) and harborage provides this. Harborage includes wood piles, leaf piles, excessive mulch, plants and bushes that touch the foundation or are up close to the foundation, and landscape elements (pots, stones, bricks etc). Also try decreasing insects around the exterior of the home. In addition to reducing harborage, reduce moisture: make sure drainage is good, don't overwater, and don't use excessive mulch. Finally, use yellow bug lights for exterior lighting. This will be less likely to attract bugs which in turn won't be around to attract wolf spiders and other predators (including scorpions, centipedes, and ground beetles).

This sounds like a lot of work, but for insect prone areas, these measures can do wonders towards keeping bugs away from - and subsequently out of - your home. I have not heard of cedarcide, but it may be worth a try as it sounds like a natural product. In rain prone and very sunny areas like Florida though, it may not last for very long out in the elements, but it could be worth a try - especially until the other things I mentioned above can be looked into.


konkreteblonde - I believe that that is a lovely green lynx spider.

I said I'd have a picture, but I don't have one yet. I might be back later tonight or I'll try for one tomorrow.

thanks NB! our doors all fit good and tight. a very old lady lived here and i dont think she ever went into most of the rooms, so the bugs were left to themselves. we also have cleared out all of the former plants that were planted up against the house. i have a strange feeling that they are coming from the attic. the hotter it gets outside the more i see. possibly coming down where its cooler? we are having ridge vents installed in the roof next month, until then we arent going to venture up there. they are for sure wolf spiders altho they seem more like tarantulas!!! ive got the little jumping spiders and they are so cute and one lives in the kitchen and helps me every night so its not like im phobic, the wolves are just so darn big.

Ok, here is a wheel bug nymph - looks like it is morphing sorta- and an unknown yellow bug with black stripes. They are both on my eggplant. I know the wheel bug is good but what about the other guy??

Thanx-Kim

i dont know much about bugs, but id bet thats a bad beetle.

That could be a striped cucumber beetle, let's hope the wheel bug ate him!

Had a bunch of those plant leafhoppers today, white ones. So glad I've been keeping up on this thread, so I recognized them right away. Smashed about 40 of them, hosed the rest off. They were on my Tiger's Eye Sunflowers, no less, ARRRGGGHH!!!

Saw lots of spiders and interesting bees today too.

bluekat - yes that does look like a cucmber beetle. I'd keep an eye on them to make sure that they don't get too numerous. Small beetles are a common food of some of the predatory bugs though, so hopefully they will keep them under control.

trackinsand - I'm glad to hear that you share my appreciation for jumping spiders. I think they are cute too - I used to feed them when I was younger during my summers at my Nana's in Florida. They would take mosquitoes from my fingers and were so careful doing it, too. We already had a nice picture of a jumping spider on the last thread from bluekat, but I couldn't resist sharing this one since you brought up cute jumping spiders. This one seemed to be quite surprised to see me, and was actually one of the few who cooperated and didn't jump on my camera - most jumping spiders will jump on your camera while you are trying to take their picture. Unlike most spiders they appear to be "curious" because they have good eyesight and will often follow your movements.

A jumping spider in my basement who seemed quite surprised to see me...

Holy cow, that would scare me silly! I would never get close enough to feed it. OTOH, I like lizards. :-)

Man, what a great picture. No offense to the user NB but that has got to be a great camera. Jill/Critterologist and I had one on my car when we left levilyla's house. I pulled over so we could take its picture. It was outside and we rolled down the window to take the picture (my idea) - OOPS. He crawled into the door jamb, and around .. yada yada. The point being, that is twice they didn't jump on me and I actually knew what it was this time!! Thanks:)

Cucumber beetle huh! He will be squished next time. Some of the wheel bug nymphs are turning more greyish. Do they just morph over time?

-Kim

Love that picture NB!

Saw something strange yesterday, thought I was losing my mind. Then forgot about it until I saw it today at the same place, so I don't know if there are one or two of them...

Picture this... You see a lady bug, dark red, not as dark as mexican beetles. Then you see it's head and big eyes, OOPS, that is a fly for pete's sake, and there are the wings in the middle!!! What is it?

Been smooshing a ton of those palnt leafhoppers the last few days. They keep getting on my sunflowers, on the stems... white ones, easy to spot.

One more question, then I promise to shut up :-) Do harlequin bugs eat only plants, or could they be eating aphids? They have been infesting my bok choy that was going to seed, always up on the stems. Now they are also all over the radish (400 ft away from bok choy) which is going to seed, mostly up on the flowers again. Ladybugs are there too, so I assume there are aphids there. Also, I found some breeding and would like to know what to look for as far as eggs.

When I am out in the garden during the day, I know what to look for, and understand more of what I see, thanks to these threads! :-)

I know this is a horrid photo, I left it in the form I took it so that maybe some of you buggies have a photo program so you can get a clearer look. This bug craws and jumps, he is almost impossible to see and apparently he puts out some white powder stuff that really camouflages him very well. I don't know if he ate those holes in my brugs or if he ate someone else that was going to eat more. When I touch him he moves away like a flying saucer, faster than the eye can move, and it's almost impossible to find him again. Please, I hope someone will read this and figure out what he is and what to do about him. Thanks!!!!!!!!!

Sherry - whatever he is, he looks like a Homoptera, and that means he has sucking mouthparts. Sucking mouthparts means that the holes chewed in the leaves aren't likely to come from your white powder making bug. The chewing is probably coming from a beetle or a grasshopper that is long gone bfore you notice the damage. I can't think of any chewing insects that put out a "white powder" - that is almost exclusively in the domain of Homoptera.

I can't be sure what your bug is, but you might try http://www.bugguide.net . If it hops, it could be a leaf hopper nymph. Some of these have white powdery of fuzzy camouflage. You might try looking at the leafhopper pictures there and see if any match your guy.

Edited to add: bluekat - I use a Nikon Coolpix 4500. I do love my camera, but by today's standards it shouldn't take such good pictures. It only has 4 megapixels and a 4X zoom, but it has a feature that I find indispensible and that you can't find anymore - it "twists" and the lens is near the bottom of its part of the camera. This allows me to take pictures from almost any angle, and because I mostly photograph small critters, it allows me to get the lens down to their level if I need to. I can also compensate for critters that stand at an angle by leveling the lens to the same angle. It also has a minimum focus distance of 3/4 of an inch which lets me get very close. With these features, I wouldn't trade it for more megapixels. I don't even have to use any special lenses - just what came on the camera. I would definitely recommend it for people who want to take photos of small subjects - unfortunately Nikon doesn't make the twist anymore. Why they did I have no idea, because everyone I know who has one (or its predecessor the Coolpix 990) wouldn't trade that twist feature.

The camera definitely deserves most of the credit. I wouldn't be able to get such good pictures without it.

This message was edited Jun 25, 2005 5:05 AM

Wow, Night_Bloom, you sent me to the correct location. I put 'leaf hopper' in the search and the bug is the second bug on the second line. So, you don't think he's going to do any harm??? I've see three in my garden, which is rather large. Do you think I should try to eliminate them?? If so, what should I use?? Something is making the tops of my brugs become hard, leaves curved down with a bronzy cast. Do you think that is caused by bugs (I have never see a single one at work) or maybe too much chemicals or fertilizer??? Thanks, about the leaf hopper, mine is exactly like that one, a clone!!

Sherry - Three isn't much to worry about. Just keep an eye on them. If they start to multiply, I would use something like pyrethrins or insecticidal soap. Both are short-lived and natural. A good blast with a hose is also an effective alternative.

Now the hardened leaves I don't know about. If it isn't a bug, I'm not too sure about it. It could be a disease. You may want to take a few of the damaged leaves - and perhaps some just starting to show damage - to your local extension office. They might be able to help better than I.

Thanks, Night_Bloom, I will do as you say, again. They came out last year, when I really thought my garden was 'sick' and said except for a few expected bugs that I was okay. I even had a couple of praying mantis, but I've not seen any this year, but we've had lots of snake doctors. I'm just green, especially about bugs, but I'm learning...I think my major leaf damage is due to chemicals.