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| Can anyone tell me what this is?
It has been munching away on young pea plants; has essentially stripped them right down to the stem. Also likes spinach & swiss chard. :-(
Searched online but haven't been able to figure out what it is. TIA! |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| I haven't found what it is yet, but a lot of my stuff is getting eaten. :( |
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| It looks like a type of louse to me. I have wood louse all over here but they don't generally do too much damage. Apparently, though, they will eat tender seedlings. They also eat other worse pests. I have found them in the house this year. I realize that this is an old, old house and they can get in a lot of places but this is the first year I have noticed they are more numerous. Check out woodlice on Google. :) Ginny |
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- Posted by nutsaboutflowers 2b/3a (My Page) on Sun, Jun 24, 12 at 20:20
| It looks similar to a ladybug larvae without the orange on it's back. If you've only found one of them, he (whatever he is) may have already eaten whatever ate your peas (?) If nobody here knows what it is, maybe you could try posting the picture on the organic gardening forum. People there probably know their bugs. |
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- Posted by serendipity_ont NWOnt 3-4 (My Page) on Sun, Jun 24, 12 at 20:53
| Going to take a closer look at the plants to see if there are more of these guys. They seem to have a voracious appetite - some of the peas have been stripped right down to a stub about an inch long. Also pretty sure they are munching during the day - not nighttime. Darn - planted these veggies for us to eat, not the bugs!! Will try the organic gardening forum. Thanks everyone! |
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- Posted by intotheark (My Page) on Mon, Jun 25, 12 at 11:09
| that looks like a green lacewing larva they are a beneficial, and are not the culprit you seek only my best guess, but it sure does not look like any type of leaf eater the culprit might be a caterpillar, worm, beetle or slug? |
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- Posted by Slimy_Okra 2b (My Page) on Mon, Jun 25, 12 at 14:58
| I agree, the first thing I thought was lacewing larva. I hope you did not kill any of them. They are good guys. Did you actually catch them eating the pea leaves or not? The damage looks like slugs to me. Go out after dark with a flashlight and a jar of water with some ammonia in it. Pick, drop, drown. |
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| Whatever it is, it is munching on my peas as well! And it is not slugs! I just came in from weeding and inspecting the garden. Most of my peas are bare stems! Hmmmmmm......the mystery continues. I am going to sprinkle DE all over the garden. Ginny |
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- Posted by serendipity_ont NWOnt 3-4 (My Page) on Mon, Jun 25, 12 at 19:23
| Don't think it's slugs; no slime trails anywhere, and I put out some traps (cans with beer) a week or so ago - nothing! Wondering if it might be cabbage worm? Haven't been able to find any critters at all but I'm going to keep on looking. Whatever they are, they are very good at hiding! |
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| I did some weeding this afternoon and found some flea beetles and a soldier bug (i think). I also saw a few ladybugs, so that's a good thing. And while i was sitting on the deck, i noticed that something had been chewing on the calibroacha blooms. Then i saw some activity and there was a tiny caterpillar being subjected to a painful death by ants. Sorry, caterpillar, but thank you ants! |
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- Posted by serendipity_ont NWOnt 3-4 (My Page) on Mon, Jun 25, 12 at 20:12
| Well, it turns out I was blaming the wrong culprit - blaming the good guy! Went out this evening & caught these guys in the act - no idea what they are, other than hungry beasts! Anyone know? And what I can do about them?
Folks on Organic Gardening were very helpful - much appreciated. Marcia - that's funny. Can imagine sitting back & watching Mother Nature do her thing. Ants vs. worm! |
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| They've got to be cutworms of some kind. The ones i found were dark grey instead of black, but pretty much looked like that. And the ones i found were in the soil not on the plants. They got flung out of the garden. With any luck, some bird got lucky! |
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| They look like army worms to me. Marg |
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| The critters that strip young pea plants down to the stems are sparrows. I would put up the netting when I planted and that would deter them but not any longer. I now make a chicken wire screen that I place on both side of the metting to keep them out. Once the plants get to about 12" to 18" tall they are not as appealing to the birds. It's not bugs, it's not slugs, it's those &#@**$ sparrows. |
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| You know, that makes absolute perfect sense to me since my garden is surrounded with a dog fence so the dogs don't chase the sparrows. Those little buggers I have LOTS of. My neighbour has 6 nest boxes with 3 hatches each every summer. They are already working on hatch #2 and all the little ones come over here to be fed! It's not enough that they get the finest seed mix. Now they are eating my peas!!! I'll fix their wagon! I got lots of chicken wire too! Bwwaaahahahahaha! Thank you for chirping Bluegoat. :) Ginny |
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| If you are finding small green catapillers,or dk.brown ones they are from the orange/brown moth that we had in mass doses(at least here) this year. They were in huge numbers and the catapillers will eat almost anything ,leaving holes in the leaves at first and then stripping almost the entire stem. We also are starting to get some of the army worms showing up-they say they will be in full force over the next 2 years.There is one in the pic(lrgest). The moth catapillers are wrecking havoc in lots of yards around here. Lois |
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- Posted by nutsaboutflowers 2b/3a (My Page) on Fri, Jul 6, 12 at 0:44
| I found two sawfly larvae on the pea pods I brought in today. That's a first for me. I've never in my life seen them on my peas. Why the heck are they there? There's 5 rose bushes they could be eating....... |
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- Posted by serendipity_ont NWOnt 3-4 (My Page) on Sun, Jul 8, 12 at 9:07
| Thanks, Lois. They seem to be munching a lot less now - some of the peas have even come back. Guess we have a couple of nasty years to look foward to! Margaret |
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