Friend or Foe #3

NB, another question about grasshoppers. As suggested I'm going to try to treat my garden when they are in their hatching stage.....but when is their hatching stage? And do they lay eggs, and where? In the ground? I realized that I know nothing about them, and so don't know where and when to try to get at them!

Okay, I'm confused. I've looked at bugguide.net and I can't tell from their photos if this is a wheel bug nymph or a leaffooted bug. If it's a leaffooted bug, are they harmful?

Maybe a little better photo:

It's tough to tell without being able to see the mouthparts ("beak"). A short ,fat beak would mean a wheel bug. A longer, thinner beak would mean a leaf-footed bug.

Leaf-footed bugs do eat plants, but one or two aren't going to do to much harm unless they are on some kind of veggie (like a tomato or beans). Otherwise they'll suck some plant juices, but not do too much if there's only a couple.

Oops - sorry margu - I missed your question. Yes, usually grasshopper eggs are laid underground. Keep an eye out for the little nymphs when they emerge.

Okay, next time I see one I'll try to get a better look at the mouth. Thanks, NB!

Okay, experts, are these aphids on my milkweed? Sheesh, I haven't even planted it yet! Soapy water and a rinse?

Yup , those are mikweed/oleander aphids (Aphis nerii)
keep on rinsing :)

Thanks, PC. Didn't know there were different colors. I need to check out the bugguide.net site.

.......and when is grasshopper hatching season? Thanks NB!!

margu - actually that's a good question. I'm not even sure when ours is because we have a few different kinds, but for you guys in California, it would be very different. It is possible that your local extension office may know, or you could see if any of the universities or colleges in your area has an Entomology department. There might be someone there who would know or could get you in touch with someone who does. They might also have some online information, including fact sheets about grasshoppers in your area.

Sorry that I couldn't be of more help.

I am guessing that i missed it, as I have them everywhere! I read somewhere that if you leave a border of weeds around a side or two of your garden, that gives them something ELSE to munch on...

Re: the hoppers. I haven't discovered their breeding season yet, but this page has some interesting ideas for getting rid of them: http://www.ghorganics.com/page12.html
I'm particularly intrigued by drowning them in buried jars of molassas water. (they also mention the trick of leaving a patch of tall grass or something for them to munch on)

Sorry, I know this thread is for identification of pests, but just wanted to share...'->

No problem, margu, all information is good.

A quick and interesting one tonight. This insect is probably not one seen too often, but was one I found at my light last night. What is intersting about this insect is that it looks like a hybrid of a preying mantis and a lacewing. It's called a mantidfly (family Mantispidae) and is in the same order (Neuroptera) as the forementioned lacewing predators that are more familiar to most of us. It is interesting to note that not only does it resemble a preying mantis, it also holds its feet in the same "praying" position. Both the adults and the larvae are predatory. The larvae might also burrow into a wasp nest or spider egg case and eat the contents. The eggs, like those of lacewings are laid on "stalks" to hold them up off the substrate. Mantidflies do not occur in the Northwest.

I was out in the yard yesterday doing my routine of looking at everything. I got to one of my hibiscus plants and there were these little black dots on it. These looked like a bug of some type. They were on the leaves, not in them. They were on top of the leaves. Then there was some little red dots on the leaves also. These looked like eggs or something and were stuck to the leaves. On some of the leaves on the back of the bush, there is a white stringy/web looking stuff. I tried looking it up, but the only thing that sounded familiar was spider mites and they are supposed to be difficult to see with the naked eye. These were small, but my eyes aren't that great and I could see them standing there looking down at the bush.

Whatever they were, I knocked them off the bush, but I am trying to determine what else I should be doing. The plant doesn't look stressed, but for the first time, I had a bloom that browned without opening. When I looked a little closer, I found a hole in the bud .

I guess I should have taken a pic, but honestly, I was so freaked out when I saw them that I knocked them all off before the thought of a camera crossed my mind.

I posted a pic of the bud on a thread in the Hibiscus Forum , but can't figure out how to copy it over here.

Any ideas what my mystery bugs are?

Hi NB,
I've found this guy a couple of times now and am concerned that he's a flower destroyer. Once seen on a rose and this on a spent daylily. His mouthparts seem small to this inexperienced eye. I've tried browsing the bugguide but haven't found him yet. CAn you help?

Here's another guy that I just saw for the first time ever, I believe. The pic's not great, but I had to do the digital zoom just to get it this clear. If you can't see it well enough, I'll try to get another picture. Thank you.

I'm sorry to be monopolizing with new questions, but they're coming out in droves now! I just found a hatched population of larvae on the back of an echinacea leaf and was wondering if there's a way to browse the bugguide for larval stages without knowing what the adult form is.

Hang in there mickgene, help is just away from their computer. I'm trying tho. lol It's hard to tell from the pic, and like you said, almost impossible to find pics of nymphs. I went to Bugguide.net and typed in Leaffooted bug, because I have these and the back legs of yours look a little like it. Scroll down to the Leaffoot section and look at those pics. There is a section right under that too, that is plant bugs and the next one is broad hooded bugs. Look thru those too, since they are all starting to look alike to me!

Shuggins - I wish I could help, but from the description alone I couldn't begin to guess. I just don't know enough about hibiscus pests to even give it a try. Sorry.


mickgene - Your first picture is of a flower long-horned beetle (family Cerambycidae, subfamily Lepturinae). The larvae feed on dead, rotting logs. The adults visit flowers for pollen and nectar. They are harmless.

The second is some kind of true bug (Hemiptera) - try Lygaeidae, the seed bugs, on bugguide.

Yes, in your search you can choose to see only immature stages. Somewhere there is a search option with circles - check the "immature" circle and unclick the adult circle. Also to get the most pictures on bugguide.net, after your original search and clicking on the family or order or whatever, choose the "images" tab at the top rather than the information tab. This will give you the most pictures.

Oh well, I tried. lol I had a weird and scary bug moment today! I'm familiar with almost all of my bugs, bees, butterflies, dragonflies etc. that are in my yard daily, so nothing usually bothers me or scares me. (except these red wasps that are still searching for their nest in a bird house that we took down) I was staking up some cannas this evening, so I had to step inside the bed behind a Crepe Myrtle, so I was kind of squeezed in. This "thing" flew by me and landed on a plant next to the CM. It just sat there and STARED at me!! It had huge black eyes, was orange or red, but I'm not sure what it was. I guess it could have been one of those red wasps, but I didn't see it very good. Man it was giving me the CREEPS! LOL!! I felt like it was fixing to attack me, so I just tried not to look at it (I've heard not have eye contact with dogs, so...) When I finished I backed out and bent down to look at it and it was gone. eeekkk!!! (twilight zone music plays here)

Don't feel bad, konkreteblonde, you got the bug part - and it very well could be a plant bug (family Miridae). Plant bugs and seed bugs look very similar and aren't always easy to tell apart. I have a feeling though, that the bug in the picture is an adult, because it looks like I can see hemi-elytra (which only adult bugs have), but it is hard to be sure from the picture

As for your bug, of course it was watching you - hee! As soon as it saw you weren't looking, it took the opportunity to make its getaway. Usually however, despite the alert, bugs aren't prone to attacking unless it is a wasp and your are threatening it's nest. Most of the time, they are just trying to make an escape, and not moving is the one of the best ways to stay unnoticed in the bug world.


Time to start a new thread, but I'm too lazy to do it tonight. I promise I'll start a new one as soon as I find a good picture to post and have the patience to wait for it to upload. Hopefully this time I'll remember to include a link.

Thanks for the help, NB

I'm feeling like piddling around outside, so I'll be snapping some pics of my bugs to share.

I went out and got some pics, then came inside. I looked out my front window and poof! that THING appeared on my screen!! I told you it was staring at me!! It has the biggest eyes!! Here are a couple of pics, just taken thru the screen. Should I be afraid?!

...help...I'm a-feared...

pbtxlady,

Your picture looks a lot like this one I took of a wheelbug nymph. I was able to take pictures of eggs and two nymph stages of the same bugs. They hung around on one plant for several days, so I was able to get numerous photos of them. I never did get them as adults, but I had seen some adults around the garden. I'm posting the other nymph stage (a red one) and the eggs also, so you can see the various incarnations.

Here are the eggs that hatched into the wheelbugs.

This is what the nymphs looked like right after they hatched. Sorry the photo is kinda blurry--he kept moving around to the back of the leaf trying to hide from me.

konkreteblond, that thing would give me the creeps too! What the heck is it, NB? Looks like a cross between a grasshopper, a potato bug and a wasp! doodoodoodoo doodoodoodoo....(that's the 'twilight zone' music '-> )

I think my THING is a Robberfly. I had a different kind last year and it too was the only insect outside that seriously creeped me out. I do think that it follows me, because this one last year did too! eeeekkkk!!!

Blondes have more fun.............

konkreteblonde - yup your critter looks like a robberfly to me too. I posted a picture of one somehwere on one of the first two threads - it had caught itself a moth. They look menacing, but are harmless to people. Like many predators though, they likely have pretty good eyeisght and are probably keying into your movements. That might be why they appear to be "watching" you.


Okay - guess I need to start a new thred. Here we go. I'll see everyone over on thread #4. here's a link... http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/525874/ .

This message was edited Jul 3, 2005 3:34 AM