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Creepy-crawlies eatin me mustards!

Artie Scott

gardener

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Location: Piedmont 7a

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posted 4 years ago

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These mustards stayed with me alllll winter long, only to be overwhelmed by these beautiful nasties!

Anyone hazard a guess as to what sort of creepy-crawlie, and how to fight back? Just planted some cool weather crops - lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower etc...are they likely to bother them?

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“All good things are wild, and free.” Henry David Thoreau

James Freyr

steward

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Location: West Tennessee

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posted 4 years ago

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Hey Artie! Those guys in the first picture are our friends, the ladybug larvae. They have a ferocious appetite at least equal to the adult ladybug for all kinds of bad bugs that come to eat our crops. It's hard for me to identify the little round bugs in the second picture, which I believe are the bad guys doing the visible damage to the leaf surface.

Here's a little more info on ladybug life from the University of Kentucky: https://entomology.ca.uky.edu/ef105

"Study books and observe nature; if they do not agree, throw away the books." ~ William A. Albrecht

S Bengi

pollinator

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Location: Massachusetts, Zone:6/7 AHS:4 GDD:3000 Rainfall:48in even Soil:SandyLoam pH6 Flat

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posted 4 years ago

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The beautiful bugs are actual the "caterpillar stage" of lady bugs, they are not herbivores they are our friends theyeat bad bugs.
What you called their spawn looks like aphids, they enjoy eating aphids even though the ants like to protect and milk the aphids.

Iterations are fine, we don't have to be perfect
My 2nd Location:Florida HardinessZone:10 AHS:10 GDD:8500 Rainfall:2in/mth winter, 8in/mth summer, Soil:Sand pH8 Flat

Anita Martin

gardener

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Location: Southern Germany

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posted 4 years ago

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The second picture is a bit blurry, and I can only talk from the experience in my climate.
But either these round little things are newly hatched ladybug eggs (some show the distinct marks, as far as I can see), or aphids parasited by a certain wasp. But not sure, as you usually only see one or two among lots of healthy aphids, and it is a bit early in the year for those parasites.

Here is a stock photo of freshly hatched eggs:

I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do. (E.E.Hale)

Artie Scott

gardener

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Location: Piedmont 7a

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posted 4 years ago

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Guys, just want to say, a perfect illustration of the genius of the hive mind here a Permies.com - nearly instant identification of the creepy-crawly, and the knowledge that they are literally not the problem, but the solution!

Thank you!

“All good things are wild, and free.” Henry David Thoreau

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