Replies

Hi Everyone! I have some more BUG goodies! I hope it’s helpfulBUGS
Installment 5

*We were shown a picture of a stink bug and an army worm fighting. The caption was, “where is the pest?” In the course of the discussion, I have a note that states that there actually is one stink bug that is a good guy. It is the spine soldier bug. It is brown with spines.

Beneficial Insects:
http://pods.dasnr.okstate.edu/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-8688/EPP-7307web13.pdf

Other links that might be helpful. Note that the ones beginning with “pods” are OSU extension publications. You can do a search for “Oklahoma State University extension” to get the page that allows you to search that data base.

http://www.wisegeek.org/what-are-stink-bugs.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_stink_bug

Home Vegetable Garden Pest Control
http://pods.dasnr.okstate.edu/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-1317/EPP-7313web2013.pdf

*The next picture was captioned, “Are These Pests?” They looked pretty fierce, but it turned out that they were beneficials. They showed the Lady Beetle larva and the Lacewing larva.

Most here on our thread have become familiar with the Lady Beetle larvae. I have self-reported the evolution of my own knowledge of them a few years ago. I saw really scary looking bugs on my cucumbers, and started squashing them in bloodthirsty abandon. However, something in me said, “um, perhaps you should be sure.” So I took some pictures and a few days later showed them to one of our ag people. Turns out, it was Lady Beetles I was murdering. ** sigh**

The Lace Wing larvae look like the sci fi creatures that crawl in some hapless victim’s ear or mouth to take them over and make them into an automaton for the invading entity.

There are several growth forms displayed by the Lady Beetle. There is a circular he recommended to us which is online only and not available in hard copy. It is E-1023 with the link as follows. You can see pix of both the Lace Wing and the Lady Beetle there.

Conserving Beneficial Arthropods in Residential Landscapes
http://pods.dasnr.okstate.edu/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-7426/E-1023.pdf

*In another picture, he showed the eggs of the eggs of the Green Lacewing. The mother lays them on stalks so they are protected from their brothers and sisters.

* Another picture showed a cucumber beetle (look at the link above of the Home Vegetable Garden Pest Control document) and it definitely is a pest, despite its similarity of appearance to the lady beetle. Notice that the head does not contain the W or M.

*He showed us pix of the Pirate Bugs. It is a predator of soft body insects, equipped with piercing/sucking mouth parts. You can see a picture and write-up on the Pirate Bug in the first link above on Beneficials

*He showed us a comic of a man and lady out gazing over their garden with all kinds of pest control equipment, and the caption says, “IF YOU PLANT IT, THEY WILL COME!”

*He showed a picture of the Yellow Jacket and asked, Is This a Pest? The answer is actually both “YES” and “NO.” In their early developmental stages, they are eaters of proteins, usually other bugs. It is later that they become pests to us because their dietary desires change to sugars instead of proteins, like your soda pop.

*He showed us the Crab Spider. They eat a LOT of bad insects.

*He showed us a picture of the cocoons of the predator wasp. These were laid on a caterpillar. If you see this, leave it alone! The same is true for the parasitoid wasp laying eggs on a gypsy moth.

Our Prof gave us a peek into the history of the Gypsy Moth in the US. Turns out that the Gypsy was being looked into as a domestic silk worm. This was happening in the 1800’s – and it got loose.
End Installment 5 BUGS