#1 & 2 - Coccinelid larva (one of the lady beetles)

If it were lacewing larva, would have old-fashioned ice tong mandibles (jaws)

#3 Stink bug nymph (youngster)

#4 & 5 -- lace bug; adult, a pest. CAn raise havoc. What's it on?

I can't remember Jean. Let's go with pepper or zuke. What kind if havoc are we talking about?

Kevin

Kevin....ticks are Arachnids. Like their spider relatives, they have 8 legs.

Your lace bug appears to be what is called an Eggplant Lace bug.....found on members of the Solanaceae family. Lace bugs are piercing /sucking insects.

For ID purposes, try to let us know the kind of plant on which you've observed an insect or other critter. That information can be critical to your obtaining an identification.

Yes, that's important. I can count on my fingers the only times I have ever had to pull a chemical out of my arsenal to use on pests outside, and lacebugs on my azaleas (planted across the entire front of my house) were one of them. Those particular lacebugs would have not touched a vegetable plant, however. Soap to the rescue. Sawflies on a rare pine and this time I had to go to carbamil base and be extraordinarily careful as it was near my bees. And hort oil on a large planting of purple leaf wintercreeper. Three times out of twenty six years, not bad.

Thanks Jean and Rhizo.

Well, I got my 2nd shipment of lacewing eggs and they're starting to emerge from the cards. Problem is.. it's been 105 F here the past week and I still have a huge ant problem. Any tricks you guys/gals know to ensure a healthy rate of birth?

Rhizo: LOL... I guess I didn't take a close enough look. I jbew tick were arachnids. That's why I guessed tick. Those 2 front antennae, I thought were legs.

Will include plant affected in the future.

Thanks

Kevin

Kevin....would you be able to take pictures of how lacewing eggs are packaged? I've been curious about it.

I think there's a couple different ways, but I got mine on cards -- 30 perforated cards with 2,500 eggs +10% for loss(eggs don't hatch, etc)

Here's some pics

Full shipped card with one tab cut out

close up

close up of tab

you just hang the tab from a branch out of the sun. 2/ tomato plant, 5/citrus tree. If plants are touching each other(like my peppers), you can easily get away with 1 per 2 plants.

I think the 2,500 covers an acre. I live in a SoCal tract home --very small lot(maybe 1/8), but I wanted the 30 cards to cover all my veggies.

Kevin

Other times, combined with bran. You sprinkle the combo here & there where aphids,etc., are hanging out.

Jean:

The eggs or the larvae? I haven't read anything about bran --- something about rice hulls though.

Nobody has any suggestions regarding my quandary?? This morning, the ones that had hatch, I just flicked them out of the bag on top of the plants. That, and scraped them very gently, one by one, onto a leaf.

Kevin

This post was edited by woohooman on Sat, Sep 7, 13 at 17:09

The eggs are mixed with bran. You distribute the combo before the eggs hatch.

If larvae were shipped to you, only one well-fed one would be present by the time you opened the package!

LOL.. That's what I was concerned about even with the eggs, but I guess they time it pretty good that none have hatched when your package has arrived. The place i got mine does sell larvae, but i believe they make you do next day shipping for them.

Kevin

Here is a link that might be useful: rincon vitova insectaries