Category: Bugs & Pests

Bugs alive

I guess with the sunshine and the great goodies the garden has to offer, it is not surprizing that I will be seeing more and more critters taking advantage of the flowers! But, I have seen less bugs, so far, than last year. The ladybird beetle is back and she loves the celery and coriander bushes. Aphids are still my archrivals. They are in the roses, lemon tree, brassicas and now I see them in the Artemisia Powis Castle. This is unusual because I thought that bugs don’t like the Artemesia plants. Well, that is where the Ladybird beetle comes in – go fetch!!!

My Calendula is something new to my garden. I read about the great benefits of this wonder plant – Calendula is has been used throughout history in skin preparations. Calendula is beneficial for dry or damaged skin and also promotes the fast healing and regeneration of the skin because of its anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties. Applying calendula topically is effective for decreasing inflammation and promoting the healing of wounds, burns, eczema and other inflammatory skin conditions. But the beetles swarm the flowers and the caterpillars are making a feast of it!

[one_half]Munch munch[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Little black beetles everywhere[/one_half_last]

I seem to think that the bugs like the YELLOW!! This is the first spring that I have so many ‘daisy-like’ flowers – this is Chrysanthemum.

My hero – the Ladybird beetle!! Go get em!!

Oops! sorry! I see you guys are busy!

A Dandelion in the meadow does not escape the jaws of these little critters!!

I am happy to see that my home-made bug spray is working wonders. I always start with a soapy solution for the Aphids, but this doesn’t seem to last long. I have to apply it frequently, so I tried a new solution. I take Tansy leaves and Artemesia Wormwood and make a tea of this. I have read in Margaret Roberts’ book of 1000 herbs that these two are excellent bug repellants. I fill a bucket half way with the leaves, pour boiling water until it covers the leaves. Leave to cool. Strain the tea and place in a spray bottle with a teaspoon on Sunlight liquid (dishwasher liquid).

I sprayed my Roses last thursday and the Aphids are still gone. However, the new shoots need treating, so I will give it another splash of Bug Spray! This is the only plant that I spray – the rest I leave for nature to enjoy. I have so much to be thankful for, I can let it slide for now!

Happy Gardening xxxx

Tags aphids, Bugs & Pests, flowers, garden, plants, roses

Barbie's garden Bugs & Pests Gardening Home page features Miscellaneous

Bugs ‘n Boids

Had a bit of fun in the garden after it rained so hard. The poor birds looked like wet rags hanging on the bare fig tree. They are so part of my garden that you might as well call me the dove lady! Every morning the massive exodus of birds from my deck when I open the back door is a sight to behold. They all seem to sleep all over the table and benches and under the potato tree. What a life. Then the chickens are marched out into their play area and it’s SEED TIME!! Well, the neighbourhood birds all flock to join in for breakfast!

First the Boids…

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Then the bugs…..

I was having a look at the lemon tree and there were quite a few unwelcome visitors. I have a feeling the white bug is an Australian Bug – it is white and furry looking. I have see this in a book before. Eww! The other little swollen things look like scale and aphids! I am going to have to do some bug-proofing this week.

I wonder if you also have these strange things in your garden!

Never a dull moment in my garden!

Happy Gardening xxxx

Tags aphids, Australian Bug, doves, scale

Bugs & Pests Christine's garden Gardening

Bug Day

Post author By Christine
Post date May 24, 2012
9 Comments on Bug Day

Is there a ‘Garden Bloggers Bug Day’? Just kidding, I couldn’t actually cope with another ‘gardening meme‘ – there are so many great ones and simply not enough time to join in with all of them, but as I always seem to be posting about bugs and know of at least two other bloggers that do it too, it got me wondering whether it’s just the few of us that are so fascinated by the bugs we encounter in the garden or are there more of us out there? If anyone did start one I’d certainly have plenty of material to contribute. Sometimes I seem to have more bugs than blooms 🙂

Look who’s back! I could cry!

Then we have a good guy … I love photographing them especially when I see them on lovely blooms

And then this one looks ordinary enough and I leave them be even though they cause lots of damage to foliage. At this time of year it hardly seems to matter because everything is going to be getting a jolly good cut back one of these days. So I just let them eat!

I read somewhere that these markings are supposed to scare predators into thinking they are big and scary … I think they are remarkable (and kinda scary)!

I suspect the caterpillar will morph into this …

And then look who’s eating whom!

I don’t have any gloriously exotic bugs to show. But hey, they’re mine!

Who’s been eating your garden lately?

xxx

Tags caterpillar, dragonfly, moles, moth

Barbie's garden Bugs & Pests Gardening Home page features Miscellaneous

Garden friends spotted in my garden

Post author By Barbara
Post date May 12, 2012
10 Comments on Garden friends spotted in my garden

I love walking through my garden, but when I stop and bend down, I see so much more! I have so many active friends that work and play in my garden. Let me introduce some of them to you.

My sunbirds are back and enjoying the Pineapple Sage bush – they frequent this bush, so my next photograph shoot will hopefully catch the splendid male.

Lots of Praying Mantis, I am happy to say.

This is an unusually looking one!

My bees are always welcome – we need to be kind to the bees!

My favourite of all – the chameleon!! Fat and happy – I think she is pregnant! What do you think?

This sign keeps reminding me of my best friend who shares my garden with me and cares when I least feel like it and always gives me an encouraging word. AND the happy trips to the nursery – thanks my buddy!

Happy Gardening xxxx

Tags bee, chameleon, praying mantis, sunbird

Barbie's garden Bugs & Pests Gardening Home page features Perenniels

Cleome attack

Oh No!! Something is chewing on my Cleome and I have lost one bush already! What can this be? Chris, I know that you lost your Impatiens to cutworm – could this be the same thing? I hope it is not that dreaded Stem Borer Beetle that is now attacking other plants in my garden. The Cleome is in a patch near the Fig and Guava tree. I will not spray any pesticide so I will have to tackle this by removing the pest by hand.

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This looks more like something is chewing, not boring – but the adult beetle chews. The leaves are also all chomped up and have turned yellow. This all seemed to have happened recently. The rest of my Cleome patch is looking healthy and happy and I can’t see any damage on the rest of them.

I will keep you posted on what the pesky thing is that is eating my plants.

Tags Bugs & Pests, cleome, cleome senorita rosalita, flowers, garden

Barbie's garden Bugs & Pests Gardening Home page features Miscellaneous

Fig Tree damage

I received a comment on an old post from Charmain from Arborviews on the 19th of April, about the bug on the Fig Tree. She identifies it as a Phryneta Spinator – Stem Borer Beetle from South Africa. A real pest!! The larva bore into the fig tree and can actually kill it!! It was uncanny, because that very same day, I was taking photos of my “meadow” for my update and came across weird sawdust pulp at the foot of my Fig Tree. I had not noticed this because of the bark mulch I have around the stem. I was horrified to see what had caused this!

[one_half]First, you see sawdust-like tree pulp[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Here, at the trunk of the Fig Tree[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Then, you see loose bark[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Pull this away to see the larva[/one_half_last]

[one_half]There it is! Argh![/one_half]

[one_half_last]Just look at the damage it can do[/one_half_last]

[one_half]The larvae from a Stem Borer Beetle[/one_half]

[one_half_last]The damage can kill the fig tree![/one_half_last]

Remember the post I did on these beetles?

The first person who commented was Denni, she immediately called it the Phryneta Spinator and warned me about the borer larvae – I should have guessed. Thanks!!

[one_half]We called it the Longhorn Beetle[/one_half]

[one_half_last]It’s oficially a Phryneta Spinator[/one_half_last]

This large indigenous beetle of about 35 mm in length has become a serious pest of fig trees in Cape Town. The larvae bore into the wood and in severe cases can eventually kill the tree, particularly if it is old and lacking in vigour. It can also be a pest of Willow trees. The large size, long antennae, mottled appearance and the prominent spines on each side of the thorax make this species easily recognisable. The life cycle takes slightly over three years!

Each egg is laid in summer in a T-shaped slit that the female makes near the base of a branch – from mid-November through to mid-March. The beetles are not usually nocturnal and egg laying seems to only occur during the day. Eggs take 10-18 days to develop (they don’t say how many).

The hatched larva initially feeds on the bark and then later enters the wood and chews its way through the wood, forming tunnels as it does so. This diet of wood is not particularly nutritious and so it needs to eat a lot of wood in order to grow. Larvae are cannabalistic so they tend to space themselves out in the wood, avoiding contact with larvae in other tunnels. The larva packs excrement (‘frass’) and castings behind it as it burrows and pushes some of them through small holes in the bark so that one can often find small heaps of reddish wood fragments at the base of the tree. Larval development takes from 2.7-2.8 years.

Pupa. When fully grown, the larvae tunnel to just beneath the bark where they moult into a pupa. By pupating under the bark, they can make an easy exit when they emerge as adults. The pupal development period lasts 89-99 days. (This could be the stage I found them at, under the bark!)

The adult form develops inside the pupa and on maturity emerges. The female then needs to mate with a male and find suitable sites on host plants for laying her eggs.

Referenced from http://www.biodiversityexplorer.org/beetles/cerambycidae/phryneta_spinator.htm

Thank you Charmain – I value your comment and coming back to us on this beetle. Now, I will have to take measures to get these larva out of my favourite fig tree!

Tags Fig Tree Borer, pests, Phryneta Spinator, stem borer beetle

Bugs & Pests Christine's garden Gardening Home page features

Bug-date

It’s a bug-update post! Some are pretty, others not so much. But they are all fun to photograph.

The white spider in the third photograph was hidden in an iceberg rose and I noticed him as I was cutting off the spent blooms last week. I let him disembark and he hopped onto the Heliotropium bloom where I thought he looked quite beautiful contrasted against the purple flowers. I’m scared of big spiders that get into the house but I love the smaller ones and value them all in my garden.

Here’s my latest Bug-parade …

[one_half]From the ordinary chafer beetle[/one_half]

[one_half_last]to the almost scary looking bug[/one_half_last]

[one_half]an intsy wintsy white spider[/one_half]

[one_half_last]and then another one of these[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Who’s eating my Anemones?[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Ah ha! Caught in the act![/one_half_last]

[one_half]There was a parade of caterpillars[/one_half]

[one_half_last]and we saw plenty of beetles[/one_half_last]

[one_half]He annihilated one of the Irises[/one_half]

[one_half_last]And perhaps turned into this?[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Or was he this before?[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Or maybe even this?[/one_half_last]

[one_half]They keep the aphids at bay[/one_half]

[one_half_last]and then get munched by this![/one_half_last]

I’m a very “bug-friendly” gardener. The truth of the matter is, I’m way too lazy to be bothered with all the spraying and laying of potions and pellets. My idea of “pest control” is throwing snails over the wall and lifting those really ugly grey worms up with a trowel and throwing them out with the garden refuse. The rest I let live and hope they keep each other in check or provide food for insect-eating birds. It’s all much easier that way :).

Seen any interesting bugs in your garden lately?

Happy gardening
xxx

Tags bug, Bugs & Pests, spider, sun spider

Barbie's garden Bugs & Pests Gardening Home page features Miscellaneous

Mini crab spiders

When you are in your garden all day, then you have the opportunity to really see who is living in it and who is just visiting. I saved a beetle that fell in the pool, but could not save the dove that flew into our window. The neighbour’s cat loves the company of my chickens and the starlings gather en masse in the fig tree early in the morning to gobble up any left over sweet treat! But the miniature world of the insects fascinates me the most.

Here is nest of baby crab spiders we found in the fig tree.

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Crab spider is a common name applied loosely to many species of spiders, but most nearly consistently to members of the family Thomisidae. Among the Thomisidae it refers most often to the familiar species of “flower crab spiders”, though not all members of the family are limited to ambush hunting in flowers. (Wikipedia)

Crab spiders can be hard to find, but they are definitely around. The reason they can be hard to find is that most crab spider species are able to camouflage themselves with their surrounding areas. Also all of the species of crab spiders resemble crabs; hence their name. Physically the most distinctive crab like characteristics the crab spider has are their two front legs, angled outward and flat bodies. Also the movement of the crab spider mimics the movement of crabs. They walk forwards, sideways and backwards like crabs.

Crab spiders in general have neutral coloring, such as light brown to gray tones. The coloring of the crab spider allows them the ability to camouflage themselves to fit into their surroundings. Their shape, flat body and small size, averaging half an inch or smaller, can make them appear to be bird droppings. They can appear in multiple locations like bird droppings, for instance on the sidewalk, patio, roof tops, tree branches and many more locations, anywhere bird droppings can be found. This odd ability to disguise themselves as bird droppings actually gives them an advantage when hunting for food.

Even though the crab spider is smaller in size its two longer front legs make it appear to be larger than it’s described. The crab spider’s eyes are all small and act as motion detectors, which comes in handy when they are looking for prey. Crab spiders are able to crawl up places like trees, walls and posts. During the day, crab spiders sleep in an area where they blend well in order to stay out of view of predators. Once the sun falls, crab spiders will move around to find a hunting spot, or they may hunt from the location where they’ve been resting.

The hunting style of crab spiders is unique in that they will ambush their prey rather than chasing it down or like most other spiders they do not put a web up to trap prey. They will sit and wait in an area where they can camouflage themselves, i.e. grass, flowers, tree bark, fruit, foliage or even cracks and crevices in buildings until they can see their prey. Once an insect of their liking passes their path they will attack. For the most part crab spiders eat small- to medium-sized insects, including butterflies, ants, flies, mites, and bees. When a crab spider has caught its prey, it paralyzes it with its venom and is able to hold it down with its two larger front legs. The venom in the crab spider is powerful; it is believed they are cousins to the brown recluse spider who is very venomous. Yet, the venom of the crab spider is only effective on its prey and not people, unless a person is allergic.

The crab spider is not known for being harmful to people, but that doesn’t mean a crab spider will never bite a person.

The crab spider’s eggs are deposited into two silken sacs, and are joined together in the center. The female will put her sac somewhere safe and usually stays near by to protect it from predators. The hatch time for the eggs depends on the environment they live in.

Once the eggs hatch the baby crab spiders look like adults just much smaller in size. Then they will molt multiple times before becoming adults. The crab spider’s life spans average about a year, and rarely lasts longer. Courtesy of http://www.localpestcontrolservices.com

Who is visiting your garden???

Happy gardening xxx

Tags crab spiders, garden spider, thomisidae

Bugs & Pests Christine's garden Gardening Home page features

The Sunday Bird Show

Well its been hot, hot, hot here and I’ve really not had much inclination to dig in the dirt. All I can motivate myself to do as far as gardening goes is to lounge around, enjoy the garden and appreciate the birds who took over the back garden this afternoon. At one stage there were so many flitting around that I had to put the camera down just to appreciate the very sight of all these different birds who now find some reason to visit my little space in the world. It was really quite something to have all these visitors in such a short space of time.

Most of the birds today were regulars (Yay! I now have “regulars”!) but we also had new birds in the back garden. The Cape Bulbul was new to me and the Redwing Starlings are usually in the front garden, but today they joined us at the back. Every bit of “birdy equipment” was in use this afternoon and the birds showed me what else they’ve been drinking from …here the Redwing Starling is drinking from one of the pots on the Terrace.

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The Starlings are really not shy at all. They’ve been making my garden their home ever since we’ve lived here but usually confine themselves to the front garden where they have plenty of water features and bird baths which is what they seem to want from me. Water! They also enjoy the Frangipani tree in the front.

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According to my notes, these with the grey heads are females. They came really close to me and seemed very unfussed by my presence. Then is the “new” kid in town, the Cape Bulbul (Pycnonotus capensis). Cape Bulbul eat fruit, seeds, nectar and insects. They’ve been making short work of the goodies on the new bird feeder.

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This next bird is new to my garden (I haven’t seen it here before). I’ve looked through my “bird” books and can’t find a match for this one. I thought it looked a lot like the Rooibeksysie which is now a very regular visitor, but … I really don’t know what this is. Does anybody recognise it? It has also been eating off the new bird table, but seems a bit shy.

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Here is the Rooibeksysie (aka Common Red Waxbill) again – they enjoy the hanging bird feeder and are regular everyday visitors now. They seem to prefer the apple pieces to all the other things we’ve tried. Apple and seeds. They are very cute, have become quite forward and are not shy to let the other birds know when they are around.

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The sweet little sunbird that visits every day between at around five in the afternoon is growing up. (I first wrote about him here when he was a juvenile). I’ve watched him mature over the last three weeks and enjoy seeing him. Amazing that the same birds seem to come back every day or actually live somewhere in my garden …

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And then the last bird of the day, the Hadeda – Just as the sun was starting to go down I looked out of my bedroom window and saw this female Hadeda perched on the neighbours roof, looking into my garden. The light was not great so my photos are not good, but here she is – she gave us quite a show when I went outside to photograph her. Lots of preening and posturing.

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Here are a few other random shots of the birds using their old and new birdy things. I’m thrilled to see they are actually using everything I’ve put out for them and are eating all the fruit and seeds. Having all these birds visit is a wonderful side-effect of gardening.

[one_half]More than one bird type …[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Glad to see they do use these[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Can you see them peeping from behind?[/one_half]

[one_half_last]The Birds main Meeting Point[/one_half_last]

Thanks for joining me and “my” birds for our Sunday Bird Show 🙂
Happy Gardening
xxx

Tags birds, hadeda, rooibeksysie, starling

Barbie's garden Bugs & Pests Gardening Home page features Miscellaneous

Bug-a-boo Zoo

I have had such weird and wonderful bugs coming into my garden lately that I had to do a special post on all the bugs I have met so far. Every time I step onto my back deck, I have to run and get my camera. It is as if they wait for me and pose. Thanks to a lot of our friends, we were able to identify all of them. Here are a few of them, from the most recent visitors ……

A cheeky grasshopper is sitting in one of my sunflowers and chomping away on the petals – yum!

[one_half]Not a bug, but a common visitor and friend[/one_half]

[one_half_last]This female hopper is hanging by 2 claws[/one_half_last]

Voracious fruit beetles all clambering for a taste of the sticky, yummy figs! The annoying Starlings wake us up in the mornings with their squealing as they tear open the figs. They eat some but they just destroy a whole lot of them. These broken figs are what the fruit beetles are devouring!

[one_half]Remember this little guy? Longicorn beetle[/one_half]