Photos of bugs in my south Florida garden

[mikej]

Metallic Blue Long-legged fly- Another beneficial

[mikej]

Some kind of plant hopper or leaf hopper. I can not positively identify it on the internet. It is only about 3/8" long. What ever it is it is chewing on my pea pods.

[Redbaron]

There are literally thousands of varieties of leaf hoppers Mike. There was a special on TV last year, (either one of the nature shows or PBS) all about just leaf hoppers and the myriad varieties that are even now still being discovered!

PS I just love all your pics, but the last one looks a bit blurry to me. Like it focused on the background instead of the hopper.

[mikej]

I think this is a Rove Beetle. If so it is another good guy.
Rove beetles are often abundant in habitats with large numbers of fly larvae -- especially decaying fruit, decaying seaweed, compost, carrion, and dung -- where some are important predators of maggots and others prey on mites or nematodes.


Of course I have many many of these.


And I saw about a half dozen of these. Am I correct that this is a paper wasp?



My peas are looking pretty good. So far I have harvested 15 quart size freezer bags of shelled conk peas for the freezer. A few have evidence of insect damage, but I just remove that part. My brandywines are setting fruit now. So far I see no fungal diseases on the tomatoes, but my peas are showing quite a bit. It has been very damp here and windy the past few days since Hurricane Sandy passed by the last few days. I have been using sulpher and copper alternately. With so many beneficials, I am trying to stay away from insecticides.

[FreyaFL]

Great photos! This is very helpful to me.

My problem is white flies. Omg...they multiply faster than...well, anything. I never had them in the past. Aphids, but not white flies. In desperation, after trying all the organic methods (which had little to no noticeable effect) I read about vacuuming them. Now, I go out every 3-6 days and, with a mini vac, vacuum my tomatoes and various others. (I then put the holding area into a plastic bag and then into the freezer.) It's working! There are still a few every few days, but not nearly as much.

Outside, however, I started noticing little shiny green flies around my sad sweet potatoes. SOOOOO glad to know they are there eating those nasty white flies! I do have leaf miners, but pretty much ignore them now. Mostly on my yardlong beans and various squash/cucumber type plants. I'll totally ignore them if they're producing those flies that will eat the white flies.

[mikej]

I am glad it is helpful to you Freya. I wanted to keep a list with pics of the insects and thought that this would be a good place to keep it. In the future, all I have to do is refer to this thread. Wish all the Florida people would post to it with pics and ids. I still do not see any white flies. (knock on wood). I see that you are in SW Florida. Where? I have learned alot by just identifying the bugs. I am finding out that I do not have to spray insecticide as much as thought. My crops have only been sprayed with insecticide once when they were young and Neem oil once a couple weeks ago. The fungal diseases give me the most problems.

[ScottinAtlanta]

Love your photos. Education and lovely. Here is one from my garden here in Atlanta. About 7 inches long. One of the good guys.

[mikej]

Cool Scott! I have never seen one that big.

[FreyaFL]

I'm in Lee County, near the Caloosahatchie River and the Gulf. Lovely breezes 90% of the time (to hide the fact the sun is scorching. lol)

As for Florida and bugs...we do have bugs...lots of bugs! So, I'll make certain to photograph any that I see from now on. I am a lousy photographer (and I'm not being modest here) so I may not be successful in actually getting any that are good enough to post. (One would think it's all a matter of pointing the camera and clicking, but I can prove that is not so. )

And, thanks for the reminder about fungal diseases. I've yet to start the baking soda spray, but planned to do so this year before all my squash/cukes/melons/whatevers died like they have EVERY year for me. (I've yet to successfully grow a summer squash down here.)

[mikej]

Hey Freya, I am not too far from you. I live in Moore Haven about a 1/2 mile from the Caloosahatchee and a bout a 1/4 mile from Lake Okeechobee.

I have been using my Motorola Razr smart phone to take these pics. Some time I have to take a 1/2 dozen or so to get a decent pic.

I haven't tried to grow squash, cukes, or melons. Just beans, peas, okra, pineapple, and different varieties of tomatoes.

[mikej]

The green stink bug, Chinavia halaris (Say), is a commonly encountered pest of seeds, grain, nuts and fruit in both the nymph and adult stages across North America. This species is highly polyphagous (has many host plants) which it damages through feeding. Here are a couple I caught mating in my garden today. They did not survive my boot stomp.




I caught this assassin bug feasting on a fly.




I need some help with these please. I think the first one is another type of assassin bug.



Some kind of moth.

[FreyaFL]

I found this on my pea leaf this morning. I couldn't really see what they might be, so I enlarged the photo (amazing how clear the pictures are that these new phones can take!) They look kind of squishy, could they be snails?

[mikej]

I haven't been to this thread for a while. I have 9 Cherokee Purple, 3 Better Boy, 2 Tasti-Lee, 2 German Giant and some scrumptious sweet corn.




Today while weeding and mulching I found some army worms that my brother warned me about. In the pic you can see where he was chewing on the whorl. I noticed 6 plants that have the whorl gone.





I also have some of these. Looks like some kind of parasitic wasp. While reading about the armyworm the article mentioned that some parasitic wasp feed on them. Wondering if this is one of those kind. If so apparently there is not enough to control them.

[Redbaron]

Welcome back Mike! I have missed your photos of bugs! I would get some Bt on that corn ASAP.

[ginger2778]

I have found those worms in the actual tomato fruit, usually when the fruit are very large, then a side of them starts to rot. Heartbreaking.
Marsha