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Bug of the day

NollieNollie Posts: 7,529
in Problem solving
Frolicking amongst my Charlotte potatoes, and seemingly eating the leaves:


Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.

Posts

  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,384
    Shield bugs are lovely aren't they!  They are sap suckers but are considered harmless as they don't cause significant harm to plants.
    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    Looks like the adult phase of the doc bug coreus marginatus.
    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
  • NollieNollie Posts: 7,529
    Thanks, I thought it was some sort of squash/shield bug...their red and black cousins demolished my purple sprouting broccoli last year and seriously set back my aubergines, so not all types harmless, Bob  :|

    Definitely the dock bug, wild edges, the markings are identical, so what’s it doing on my potatoes apart from the obvious chomping??

    I am beginning to dispair, also found my single dahlia was being chomped, out with the torch last night and there was a bit fat snail on it and a queue of smaller snails waiting in line. Dispatched all and spread a thick ring of gravel around but don’t know if that will survive.

    Off to do some strimming, at least I can get my own back on the weeds. 
    Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    I can't help you there sorry. I only ever see the early instar phases and they hang around on my raspberries. I like them for their ridiculous antennae and spiky bodies.




    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
  • Blue OnionBlue Onion Posts: 2,995
    Nollie said:
    Frolicking amongst my Charlotte potatoes, and seemingly eating the leaves:



    Umm.. Nollie.. those two beetles aren't frolicking.. they're fornicating.  😳  

    Nollie's x-rated gardening photos.  
    Utah, USA.
  • NollieNollie Posts: 7,529
     :D  I was originally going to say having a sh@g-fest but in an uncharacteristically coy moment settled on ‘frolicking’. If they are not actually eating the foliage as well they are certainly wrecking the sheets, so to speak.

    You do have to admire the bugs - plant something new and the right predator appears as if by magic. Never had hardly any snails until I planted that Dahlia in the ground - am awaiting with trepidation the cameo appearance of the big fat Spanish slug  :#
    Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
  • NollieNollie Posts: 7,529
    Ps great pictures Wild Edges
    Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
  • Blue OnionBlue Onion Posts: 2,995
    edited May 2018
    Haha.. I think you should have gone for it.  

    A few weeks ago I had a group of 1st graders (7-8 year olds) out in the school garden sketching insects and other bugs they found.  There was great excitement at finding a number of boxelder beetles 'stuck together'.. lots of sketches and lots of questions.  We already discussed pollination of flowers, so I made it follow along those lines a bit.  I didn't expect our art lesson to turn into a 'birds and bees' lesson. 😳
    Utah, USA.
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