Insects: The good, The Bad, and the Bugly

[captcold]

Great stuff @912GreenSkell
My contribution is courtesy of this mornin. Theys'a building a condo. Smaller than the one from a couple days ago

 

[Tin Wiskers]

I could be mistaken, but is that not an adult aphid?

Edit...nope looks a little close and it seems black fly aphids wings are too large ....looks like it could be a fungus gnat?

I have the dang Fungus Gnats to, they get stuck on here but there are less when I use a parasitic nematode like Mosquito Dunks sprinkled in the top 1" layer of medium (especially coco), they will eat up the larvae hatched by the Gnats eggs.

I think this dude is something else...it's about 1/8-1/4" long and not a small housefly.

 

[Tin Wiskers]

Great stuff @912GreenSkell
My contribution is courtesy of this mornin. Theys'a building a condo. Smaller than the one from a couple days ago
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WTF?

 

[dankstyle J]

I love the idea of the Lady Bug or Mantis in my grow tent!

The ladybugs work great ,they prefer the temps in the mid 70s ,I put down a lil paper towel with water and they hydrate off it ,since I am organic I use very lil sprays and the ones I do are obviously organic ,but I don't have to spray as much with about 10 of them roaming around,I get spidermites from.outdoors and battle em well with lil integrated pest management,its also super cool to see em back in forth on leaves and flying between plants taking care of business.

 

[dankstyle J]

Man

:smoking: Dank' buddy, the mantis family is one of my fav's of all insects! Some are native to CA, but not near the coast,.. or used to be! Last few years, they started showing up,.. I think these are natives that have been cultured to sell locally, and now they have become "naturalized" to the area,... they certainly will take out anything large-ish, but as juvies and adults, they're no help for smaller vermins,... babies can, but most die fast from starvation,... and the sheer speed of reproduction on vermin like aphids, thrips, mites exceeds what impact they have,.. predatory insects are more about prevention, not curative,... - here's a killer on the loose in my Green Poison F1FV a couple years back,....
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that's a good looking mantis obviously one that has been eating the other mantis homies .

 

[hecno]

What a great thread guys , I have always loved bugs - good or bad - when I was a kid I used to scare my sister with them it was great fun .

 

[Waira]

>> Capt'n- I can't see well what you've got there,.. is it a leaf roller caterpillar? ... I've found a peculiar spider that does a partial roll, and weaves a dense canopy cover for a top,...

>> Tin'-- just to clarify, you use predatory nematodes? Or dunks? Dunks are a Bacillus thurigiensis (israelensis strain) product,... the caterpillar Bt is kurstaki strain,... I've wondered if they are cross effective with each other? I'm thinking not, the specific strain is effective to specific host families,... 'squito's and gnats are related,.. moth/butterflies, are not of course!

>> Hec' mate! I figure you have some fierce bugs down your way,... You don't have to contend with bulldog ants, do you, or jack jumpers? How about jumping spiders? I LOVE these guys, my fav' spider family for sure! I found this beaut' last year,...

 

[captcold]

thats a friendly Mr. Waira, for sure.

 

[captcold]

Great stuff @912GreenSkell
My contribution is courtesy of this mornin. Theys'a building a condo. Smaller than the one from a couple days ago
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this lil bugger is an orb spider found another a couple of day ago - no shit - an inch long. Oversized white body, brown legs with hair. Completely wrong. Silk like tensile steel strong, was putting up a 20 unit condo in mah plant. eek!

 

[hecno]

Jumping spiders I have , not the other 2 , But we have these dam things -- Australian Meat Ant . -- Iridomyrmex and are very aggressive and the bite hurts like hell . Lucky I don't have many around the yard .