Garden Pests and Diseases: Friend or Foe #3, 0 by Night_Bloom

Night_Bloom wrote:
bluekat - that is a soldier beetle (family Cantharidae). If you go to the first Friend or Foe thread (link is in first post of this thread) at least 3/4 of the way down, (second to last photo) there's a picture and description. He's usually a good guy.

dovey - that is a mayfly (order Ephemeroptera). They can have two or four wings and they usually have those tails (two or three depending on the species). It probably came from a pond or slow-moving water source nearby. May flies have strange biology in that they have two winged forms (for no apparent reason either) - a subimago and an adult. The adults are aso known for lasting a very short time - usually mating, laying eggs and soon dying afterwards.

Sherrylike - it sounds like squishing was the best option. The only leaf rollers I was familiar with are bean leaf rollers, and I'm kind of fond of them, because they turn into a rather pretty skipper butterfly. There are pictures of both the skipper and the caterpillar (and its rolled leaf home) on the second thread I believe (in the middle of the thread somewhere - look for the skipper butterflies for the adult, then go down until you see the leaf blob). But I believe the bean leaf roller only eats beans and related plants, so this probably isn't your critter. You can see what another bean leaf roller's home looks like though if you are interested.


Okay, I've been lapse in posting pictures lately - it's been a rough garden season here with all the non-stop rain. Now that it finally has dried out a bit, I'm having to weed like crazy and it's generally after dark before I get inside to make dinner. That restricts picture-taking time, but i managed to get this one (at my porchlight again). This is an ichneumonid wasp (family Ichneumonidae). It is a parasitic wasp, usually onlarger critters such as grasshoppers or wood eating beetles. This wasp is actually a pretty good size - over an inch long.