Friend or Foe #4

A continuation of our thread where we discuss insects in the garden and attempt to determine whether they are friendly or harmful.

Here is a link to the previous thread... http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/518029/ . The first post of that thread has links to the other previous threads.

Feel free to post your pictures of insects in your garden, and I will attempt to let you know whether or not they are good or harmful. I will also continue to post pictures of insects that you might see in your garden that are beneficial. I'll also from time to time post pictures of insects that might look intimidating or like they are harming your plants, but are in reality harmless.


Tonigt I'm posting one of those fearful looking insects. This is a dobsonfly (family Corydalidae). The males especially - which this is - look very intimidating. Now I will admit that when photographing this specimen (which was brougt in to me for identification), I did not pick it up. Even I was not going to test if those jaws would actually be able to grasp or not - hee - but this insect will not actively seek you out to bite you or anything. Thoe impressive jaws are used in mating contests against other males and perhaps for grasping females.

The larvae, called hellgramites, live in aquatic situations and are often used in fishing as bait . They are often considered beneficial, because they are active predators on aquatic insects, including blackfly larvae, and they provide a food source for fish.

As you can see from this photograph of a male dobsonfly on a ruler, these insects are quite large which is probably why this order of insects is called Megaloptera which means "ample wings".

This message was edited Jul 3, 2005 3:32 AM

I have GOT to remember NOT to look at this thread before I have my coffee!!!!!!! *grin*
Pati

I was surprised to find some white eggs on the upper surface of a pepper plant leaf this morning. Is that unusual? I never remember them being so easily visible, but rather always hidden from both view and exposure. Maybe I'm just getting more attentive. :)

Here is my first contribution. It's less scary than yours. Good or bad guy?

I assume this is something sort of beneficial? I've never seen it doing anything else.

I might keep him just for beauty!

The blue guy is pretty, isn't he?! If you gotta be a bug, being one with a brilliant blue or metallic green woud be best. :)

konkreteblonde - I knew the first one was a type of field cockroach, but we don't have that kind here, so I checked bugguide. It is a pale bordered field cockroach (genus Pseudomops). It is found in your state, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Northern Mexico, and a part of Alabama. It should be harmless. They are said to visit flowers for nectar.

The second one is a cuckoo wasp (family Chrysididae). These are often parasites of other wasps. The strange shaped abdomen allows the wasp to curl up into a ball when threatened. The head fits into a spot at the end of the abdomen in some species for protection. If I remember correctly, even the females don't have stingers.

A cockroach?! Blech!! Had I known that... That's interesting tho that the blue guy is a wasp. All of the wasps in my yard sure do love that fennel. Thanks NB!

OK (patting myself on the back), I knew at first glance that was some kind of cockroach! I am no specialist in bugs, I just live in Florida where the cockroaches rule!! LOL
Pati

Pati, take your bug back home! He's definitely out of place here. You gotta be big and ugly to be a cockroach here. But then again, he survived another day in that disguise.

LOL KKB, Our biggest ones (Palmetto) have wings! Ever heard a Blackhawk helicopter?
Pati

This tiny little bug is often found on the back of my rose leaves.
It's smaller than a pepper corn and has a firm rounded shell like back.
I'm haveing a horrible problem with cucumber beetles and wonder if this could be the baby cuc?
Any ideas?

Thanks
Dovey

hi NB... i've been following your thread since #1, and am amazed at your depth of knowledge... please keep it up... :)

i have a pic of a critter i'm not aware of the name of. what set him up as a candidate for you, is that i witnessed a preditor that went after him. before i reveal the preditor, i'll give you a pic of this guy and see if you know of him.

Arod

dovey - I don't have much of an idea about that one. The picture isn't too clear for me, so I can't even tell where the head is. I can tell you that it isn't a cucumber beetle larvae - they will look like little grubs, but with feet that go out to either side, and they'll have a separate head capsule. If that is a bug, the only kind I can think of that would look anything like that would be a type of scale, but I am not at all confident about that.

Is it possible that those little things are a kind of fungus seed? Some kinds of fungus shoot seeds up in the air, and they stick to the bottom of leaves. I unfortunately forget what they are called, but if I remember to, I'll check at work.


SO1 - I know that that is a long-horned beetle (family Cerambycidae), but I'm not sure which genus or species. It could be in the subfamily Lamiinae, but don't hold me to that. Most long-horned beetles spend their larva stage inside rotting logs or stressed trees. Some adults don't eat. Others, like the flower longhorns (I think there's a picture of one from someone near the end of the last thread), feed on nectar or pollen.

Dovey, I'm wondering if they could be flea beetles? I've spotted some of them (I think) on my roses too, just little hard black specks of bugs that jump away when I poke at them.

critterologist,

I think you could be right, it's just a tiny speck of a bug, but when I squished on it was juicy.
I guess it's time to dig out the organic gardening book and see what I can do about it.

Thanks for your help

I thought I would post a "friend" that I just got identified at another site (I don't know much about buggies):

Toxomerus marginatus

A pollenator, and it's larvae feast on aphids. They are currently taking up residence on my cilantro/coriander plant. I'll be making sure to plant extras next year, considering how many "friends" I have on just one plant!!

Karen

dovey - in general, a flea beetle won't let you squish it. They will spring away - and sometimes at quite a distance - at every oportunity. If these are stationary, I am guessing again something more along the lines of a plant or perhaps of a scale insect (scale insects are stationary and don't appear to have legs). It will be important to know, because scale insects often require special attention to treat because they are protected by their hards "shells."

Well Dang
I know my photo wasn't very good
Maybe I can find another and see if I can get a better shot.
It's a tiny critter.
All I know is that something is playing havoc with the leaves on my roses

Are the leaves getting tiny round holes? If so, it may still be a flea beetle. I can squish about half the ones I find if I "sneak up" on 'em and mash them against the leaf.

tripletmom, great pic of a hover fly! Did you take it? I never see my flies, but do see the larvae. It's the little green caterpillar looking thingy. He eats aphids, but not enough for me this season. I've got to order some ladybugs!

konkreteblond, I appreciate that pic since everytime I kill a caterpillar that I don't recognize I am definitely guilty about it. One more guy I can recognize, now!

Yes, I took the picture KB :) I was actually shocked that it was in focus! My camera does auto-focus, and half the time, I end up with a really sharp picture of the mulch UNDER the plant :) My cilantro/coriander plant is LOADED with these hover flies, so I had a reasonable opportunity to get one to smile for the camera :) I also have some fireflies on the plant... I have a feeling I'll be planting *a lot* of cilantro/coriander next year, considering the friends that they attract!

Now... if I could get something that eats those darned cucumber beetles!

I have been seeing lovely red lady bugs lately as well... so I suppose that if I see more friends than foes, I'm in reasonable shape!

Karen

Cilantro will definitely be on my list! I keep reading to plant radishes to get rid of the cucumber beetles. Do not plant Candytuft, because it attracts them!

tripletmomma - I agree with konkreteblonde. That was a lovely picture of a hover fly, and I should've commented on it before. There are also larger hover flies, but it is generally the smaller ones like yours that eat the aphids. The larger hover flies are the ones that eat in your compost pile when it gets wet and soggy. I might post a picture of them later when I find a good one (I know I have one somewhere).

As for things that eat cucmber beetles and similar leaf eating beetles, usually it is the predatory bugs that you are looking for. I may have already posted this picture, but just in case, here it is again. That isn't a cucumber beetle in the picture, but it is in the same family (Chrysomelidae) and likes to chomp leaves. After looking at my Garden Insects of North America book, I believe the pest is called a yellowmargined leaf beetle. It likes to eat crucifers. The predatory bug is a predatory stink bug in the Pentatomidae family. This one is a spiny (or spined) soldier bug nymph. And as some of the regulars to this thread can probably tell you, the way to tell the predatory stink bugs like this one from the plant eating kind is that short, fat "beak" that it is sticking into the leaf beetle. A plant sucking stink bug will have a longer, thinner "beak" (a stylet in scientific jargon).

am hoping this one hasn't been covered before. He is on my borage plant. This is the second one I have found. Curled up in the leaf with lots of frass? What is he and what will he become?

Thanks -Kim

NB, I have a general question about nests for bees, wasps, and other winged/stingery pollinators. We uncovered a bee nest beneath a pallet that has been holding wood off the ground for over a year, and I nearly cried when the grass-clipping (?) covered nest revealed 40-50 eggs approaching the size of the bees attending it. :(

What kinds of nests do these different pollinators build, so I can be on the lookout for them in the future? A simple web link would be appreciated; just didn't know where to begin looking.

Donna

Kim - hmmm. You got me on that one. The only "leaf roller" I am familiar with is the long-tailed skipper otherwise known as the bean leaf roller which becomes a rather attractive skipper butterfly. I can't see the details of your caterpillar well enough to guess either. At work I have a really good website called the caterpillars of eastern forests that might help. I'll post the link. I can also check my references there for borage. Is it my imagination or is the head part of the caterpillar much lighter than the rest? In the picture it looks somewhat odd.

Donna - I don't know any websites off hand, but I can give you a quick, general rundown for now. If you've got the Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Insects & Spiders that might also help.

yellow jackets and bumblebess nest in the ground usually.

hornets often nest in tree hollows.

paper wasps make those areal open nests that attach under eaves, palm fronds, all sorts of overhangs - I might have posted a picture of one. I'll check the previous threads. If not I'll post one next.

mud daubers make mud nests on the side of houses and other such surfaces... concrete bridges for example. I'm not sure what they would build on "in the wild". I've only ever seen them on houses and such. Maybe on the sides of large rock outcroppings.

ground nesting bees, sphecidae, digger wasps, etc. all make nests in the ground too, but they aren't a "colony" so they don't live there. They just bury food (pollen and nectar or prey items) and lay egg(s) there then leave.

I wasn't sure from your story what had happened to the bees, but if it was early enough in the year, they likely would have started a new nest.

I have a nest of yellow jackets myself now, living amongst what little I allow of the English Ivy on the edge of our driveway near the large fence. Hubby and I go over and look every once in a while, but they just go in and out and pay us no attention. They are in a low to no traffic area as long as we don't park the pick-up too close, and there won't be any mowing, so they can stay put. Most wasps do not use the same spot, so after they are done in the fall, they will abandon the nest and the queens will hibranate (they are very sluggish in that state - I have dug up and transferred a few while working in my garden before) and go find a new place to build.

Well no time for pictures this morning, but I'll post one again soon - a paper wasp nest if I haven't posted that already.

i have seen a bunch of what i think are katydids, a bright grren small cricket. i got hold of one yesterday on a tomato seedling, and it looked like a short beak, so ... are they friend or foe?

and also today saw an interesting shield bug, black with a red border...

also have seen a few of what could be the corn borer moth, it looks like a wasp, but is mostly black, with no stinger, and a long thin waist, is that it?

thanks!

Katydids should have chewing mouthparts. Only true bugs (Hemiptera), Homoptera, and some flies technically have "beaks". One or two shouldn't do much damage.

Ditto the sheild bug on the damage front.

A long thin waist would not likely be a moth. They almost always have fat waists, even the ones that look like wasps - such as the squash vine borer. Yours sounds potentially like some kind of fly - such as a robber fly.

Speaking of robber flies, here's a small variety. This one isn't as intimidating as the larger variety I posted earlier or that was scaring konkreteblonde I think it was.

My caterpillar did not have a white head. Maybe that is the webbing he made for himself. He was dark brown with yellowish stripes. Didn't seem to be too destructive to the borage either.

-Kim

I have those Robberflies too. They look furry. It also likes to follow me around and watch me. I think this is the one that was staring at me thru the window.

What is this..or what are these? I found it on a milkweed plant. I took the leaf off and left it on the porch so I could put it in a container, but it blew away. Hopefully it's not something too bad.

KB,
I get those same things on the back of my sago palm leaves, I'd like to know what they are too.
I'm sure it's not a good thing.

Dove

wish i could tell the size of the eggs, but could they be Monarch eggs? maybe someone could look that up & see if the pics match

that is one scary roibber fly, looks like he is wearing UV shades LOL

went to a bug class (4 my kids) at our museum today. the ento said i was describing the peach borer insect, but he said they would settle for corn, which explains the teeny tiny worms in the top of one cob yesterday.

also learned what will eat harlequin bugs which are in the stink bug family, and he said that harlequins taste so bad, nothing will eat them EXCEPT another stink bug, the one with the anchor on his back.... got a picture for us NB? i sure would love to find some somewhere, or i'll only be planting garlic next year LOL, i have a terrifying invasion of the harlequin fruit & bloom snatchers...

Those are not Monarch eggs, trust me. I know Monarch eggs when I see them. I haven't had but one male Monarch either. My milkweed is waiting and the aphids are getting impatient. I don't have any idea what those things were, but I can bet that after the rain and high winds we had last night, that loose leaf is not in my yard any more. :)

well, that's a good thing! your poor neighbor heeheee

bluekat - I'm sorry that I couldn't figure out what your caterpillar was, but I'm glad that it isn't doing too much damage to your borage. Maybe it will turn into something interesting.

Tamara - there are actually a few different kinds of predacious stink bugs in my area. I'm not sure if they would be the same as yours, but here are a few from here.

The first is a spined soldier bug. I've posted a picture of one of these before somewhere - it was the bug I used to show the fat "beak" of a predatory stink bug. It was eating a caterpillar. Here is another picture showing a close-up of the coloration... http://www.forestryimages.org/browse/detail.cfm?imgnum=1366051 . I've posted a picture of the nymph before which is rather pretty in coloration, but I'll repost one at the bottom of this post.

Another species doesn't have a common name. It's in the genus Stiretus. Here's the nymph... http://www.forestryimages.org/browse/detail.cfm?imgnum=0488019 . And here's the adult... http://www.forestryimages.org/browse/detail.cfm?imgnum=1748021 . Here are other shots of adults, but the coloration is totally different... hthttp://bugguide.net/node/view/6434/bgimage . I guess this species varies a lot, and this seems to have the stink bug with the "anchor" that you were talking about above. Here's one... http://creatures.ifas.ufl.edu/beneficial/s_anchorago08.htm .

Here's another species that we have in the southeastern US... http://bugguide.net/node/view/2716 .

Here's one that occurs in Texas as well as Florida... http://creatures.ifas.ufl.edu/beneficial/a_grandis.htm . Click on the small pictures to see better ones.

There are probably others as well.

Here's the detailed picture of an older spined soldier bug nymph that I promised. There's another in this thread showing a younger nymph eating a leaf beetle (it's just above bluekat's borage caterpillar).

cool thanks. if anyone has the anchor bug, i will pay for live shipments!