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Good bugs

desertdan

desertdan

New member
This morning I found Green Lacewing bugs all over my plants. I started to freak out. I did not know what they were. I looked them up in my insect guide and found out they are beneficial insects. To my delight I found that they eat aphids,mealybugs, spider mites, leafhopper nymphs, moth eggs, scale thrips, whiteflies and more. My lucky day! Go good bugs!
 
Congrats! But, ya know... critters are attracted to food... I wonder if a sudden influx of predator bugs (your lacewings) means there are/were "bad" prey bugs there already? I'd look, but do nothing drastic... just watch nature take its course. Sounds like you have a great micro-ecosystem going in your garden.
 
Flowers will be your best friends if you want to keep those lacewings around, and have them lay some eggs, even! Most beneficials need pollen to reproduce, so if you can have something flowering in your garden as much of the time as possible, that will help keep a healthy eco system. Plants like yarrow, and other small flowers are great forage, but most flowers will work. I usually let some of my vegetables go to seed for this reason.
Congrats on the Lace wings!!
 
I bet desertdan, will get it all fixed up, because he always grows some awesome looking bud every year, except when the locusts or grasshoppers beat him to his plants.
 
I gotta get me some of those "good" bugs just in case, but what will they eat if I don't have "bad" bugs?
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I am pretty much bugless this year. The grasshopper infestation I had last year did not materialize this grow season. I've had to kill only a few nymphs.Thank Holy Random Chance! So this is what a lacewing looks like.

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Great photo. I put out 10 pounds of semaspore bait and it has worked well so far. Early on I had lots of grasshopper midges. I put out the bait 2 times and it did the job but I am seeing a few more now. I might have to lay out another $40 for another 5 pounds to put out between rains. I am already seeing many tiny wasps so I think maybe no bud borers this year.
 
Love that Imoji top right!!
The benificials will only eat pests, and a little pollen so they can reproduce. I f they run out of pests to eat, they'll just fly off and go stalk there quarry some place else.
Nice lookin Lacewing, appears to have the grissly remains of a pest insect in her jaws!
 
While we're on the subject, please, everyone be careful with the pesticides you put out. Weed growers' misuse of chemicals in the environment is starting to become a topic in the wildlife conservation communities (especially here on the west coast) and I would hate to see us get a bad rep (and more scrutiny/regulations).
 
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