Bug infestation on potatoes

Posts

• Dovefromabove Posts: 88,147

  June 2021 edited June 2021

  It’s a shield bug … it’s doing absolutely no harm to your potatoes. 

  They’re fascinating creatures … we love them … there are so many types … their juveniles go through various metamorphoses known as instars. 

  This may be of interest 
  https://bna-naturalists.org/id-guide-shieldbugs/ 
  

  
  

  Yours may be a Hawthorn Shield Bug, but @wild edges knows better than I do. 

  
  

  
  

  As I said … doing no harm at all 😍

  
  Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
  
  
  
  
  
  

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• Shalston Posts: 7

  June 2021

  Thank goodness. You probably heard the huge sigh of relief from Southeast London! Thank you replying. They are quite charming. If they’re sitting on a leaf they all scurry underneath if you put your hand nearby. 

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• Dovefromabove Posts: 88,147

  June 2021

  So that’s what it was … I thought it was a cheer from Wembley 🤣 

  
  Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
  
  
  
  
  
  

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• Skandi Posts: 1,723

  June 2021

  I'm pretty sure that's not a hawthorn shield bug, I don't actually think it's a shield bug at all. The thorax is the wrong shape. I'm thinking it most resembles a flower bug (Anthocoris) Not sure which one and I could very probably be wrong. If I am right however it's a beneficial insect that eats aphids and other small pests.
  

  
  

  
  

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• Shalston Posts: 7

  June 2021

  That would explain where all the aphids have gone. Was planning to get the neem oil out this weekend but they’ve disappeared. 

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• Dovefromabove Posts: 88,147

  June 2021

  Well there you go … I said I wasn’t an expert … I’ve always thought those were shield bugs too. 

  @Skandi 👍 

  
  Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
  
  
  
  
  
  

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