Critters are a special interest of mine. I am not sure why but I want to know what makes them tick. I want to know how they hunt, how they raise their young and how they survive in a world that is seemingly against them. Every chance I get, I hike the hillside and marshes to observe whatever I find. Usually, I am pretty good at identifying them but, every now and again, one throws me. Now, it has been two in two days. Yesterday, the slender twig ant was a new name for me. I knew it was an ant but did not know much about it. Today, another critter and another mystery became my quest. This time, a bright green bug was found on the ti plant. It was about the size of a penny....round and flat. I had never seen this bug before so I decided to play with it a while to get a good look at it. The bug was very docile and did not attempt a getaway nor did it "attack". In fact, it sat calmly on my hand before I let it retreat back into the leaves of the ti plant.
Now that I found out that this bug is the nymph stage of a stink bug, I may come to regret that decision to let it live. Come spring, this little rascal's descendents may ruin a good number of my tomatoes! Yep. The flat, green bug is in the 4 instar of becoming a full blown stink bug! Had I known, I probably would have smacked it just to protect the gardens. Well, maybe I would have. Look at how cute that little critter is! Maybe I would not have.
Around the Bayou, the bees are busy...so are the wasps. Yesterday, I watched as a small black wasp carried off a huge cross spider. The spider was stuffed down a small tunnel in the ground to become food for a future generation of the wasps. This morning was spent watching another wasp do the same job. Keep in mind that the wasps doing all this hard work are all females. The males have nothing to do with rearing the young of most ground bees and wasps. The female digs the hole, creates the birthing cells and catches all of the prey. The male flies around doing not much of anything.
This morning's wasp was a weevil wasp. This one caught me by surprise. Mark and I were rigging the sprinkler in the garden when I noticed a wasp flying erratically around me. Hmmm? "Go away, wasp. I am not hurting you." The wasp did not listen. When I finally identified the wasp and saw that she was carrying prey, I knew immediately what was the problem. I, obviously, was standing on her tunnel! Sure enough, as soon as I took a step backward, she honed in on a certain spot on the ground. She dropped her prey of a stinkbug and started digging out the dirt that I had accidentally pushed over the opening. After a few seconds, she had the hole cleared and was hauling the paralyzed stinkbug down into the hole. Her larvae would dine on the bug. I watched as she backed out of the hole and flew off to find another insect. On, happy day! She headed right back to the tomato plants! The stinkbugs are such a nuisance that I was singing praises for the weevil wasp!
Sometimes it pays not to kill every bee or wasp you see. Most solitary ground wasps are not aggressive. They catch tons of garden-destroying bugs so do us huge favors. This one is welcome to make as many holes as she wants and I promise that I will try to not to step on them, if I see them! Carry on, Little Mama! Carry on! And just so you will know, I am aware that I probably spend far to much time watching the critters around the Bayou.
I admit it. I am truly not a fan of stinkbugs of any sort. They are some of the critters that I find offensive in just about every way possible. Ugh! These critters can ruin a good tomato on the vine in just a few minutes flat, they multiple rapidly and smell terrible! All of those things put them on the "Do Not Like" list.
More work is being done on the Little Bayou House. This is required due to another bug (probably the worst of the bunch) called a termite. Those things are eating my house! But...back to the stinkbugs. The critters in question today were none other than Leaf-footed Bugs. These stinkbugs are true bugs and some of the creepiest ever. Son had to move the table saw from one side of the yard to the other to make it a tad more convenient. Since the work is ongoing and since the saw is heavy, we have just been covering it instead of moving it back into the shed. The black tarp kept the rain out ok but also made the perfect hibernation spot for stinkbugs. The weather has been quite chilly as of late so the bugs have all been looking for warm spots. The saw was selected as their haven. When Son removed the tarp, hundreds of the stinkbugs were found. Ugh...again. He called for me to get the spray. All in all, we probably could have filled a half-gallon bucket with stinky critters, if we were so inclined...I was not...not at all! So instead of filling any bucket, I sprayed them.
A good spraying eliminated the problem rather quickly. I should have taken a "before" photograph but it is just not in my nature to think before killing bugs. I sprayed...bugs started scattering...bugs fell off the saw, into the grass and died. THEN, I get the idea to photograph the critters for no other reason than to warn others that it is time for the stinkbugs to be hunting warm spots (like black tarps). Maybe there is a positive outlook to all of the critters in the saw. Perhaps by killing so many at one time, there will be fewer in the garden come spring. I doubt it but the thought brought a smile to my face anyway!
As far as I can tell, there is only one downside to this "organic" gardening. Growing fruit and veggies that are bug-free is hard work! Don't get me wrong, I always have gardened this way and always will but, still, sometimes things get a bit frustrating. While I am used to going out and handpicking tomato worms, I draw the line at doing the same to stinkbugs. Those things are just foul! I must find an easier, more nose-friendly method of eliminating these critters from my tomato plants.
Late this evening, I went out with Ms. Ez. The old dog needed a bit of attention so a walk was in order. My good intentions were waylaid by critters. The tomato plants were literally covered with the Leaf-footed Bugs. These are large insects that belong to that smelly group of stinkbugs. They climb around on the plants ruining any fruit that dares look delightfully edible. The bug sticks its long proboscis in through the tender flesh and sucks portions of it dry. After getting its fill, the critter moves on to another tomato but the damage to the first one is not finished. Hard knots form around the point of proboscis entry rendering the fruit just about unusable. The unsightly blemishes make for one unappetizing tomato.
I counted over two dozen of the Leaf-footed Bugs on one plant. They were all grouped together in wads so at least that part was easy. Smash! I killed dozens upon dozens of the varmints! Poor Ms. Ez was in no way pleased with our shortened walk. Strange thing is, I now find that some misguided folks in Connecticut are advising people to "gently grasp the insects and move them to a more suitable location". (And they are talking about the same bug here!) Right! Let me know how that is working for you, Kind, Gentle Folks of Connecticut! I hate to tell you but these things will come right back to haunt you if you let them! I do believe that most folks in Connecticut, just like here on the Bayou, realize that sometimes it is better to get rid of bugs instead of inviting them to be house-guests. Come this winter, those who refuse to eradicate them, will find them as squatters in their homes. The bugs will (and really do.) love to invade the closet and snuggle down in warm clothes to overwinter. Moving them to a "more suitable" location is out of the question for me.....unless! Unless, I can move them right on up to a more suitable location in Connecticut! That should keep them off my tomatoes!
I see a lot of strange things around here. I am usually up before most other folks and the world seems all fresh and new but, every now and again, I find thing that sure don't thrill me. Although I admit that I find all things about nature fascinating, that does not mean that I adore everything I come across in the garden, on the hillside or in the marshes. A few things almost disgust me! Take today, for instance, I stumbled across a most interesting formation of little white cups and thought "Here is a thing of beauty!" It was beautiful.....at least to the eye. Once I delved into the matter a bit more, my admiration soon turned to repulsion.
My morning started with the usual picking of Boysenberries. It is peaceful in the garden at daybreak and this morning was made even more enjoyable by the coolness that had set in after the severe thunderstorm last evening. The same rains that cooled and cleaned the world, also, turned leaves that were normally cupped downward. One leaf in particular caught my attention. Now that the leave was upended, I could see the beautiful arrangement of tiny white cups. Why! The sparkling cups were in a heart arrangement! I thought this even added to the appeal of the oddity! I should have known better than to think shining white cups on the bottom of a leaf could ever mean anything other than trouble.
I did know. I knew exactly what these things were. These pretty little egg-shaped cups were exactly that...eggs. These were EMPTY eggs! Oh, no. This meant trouble. You see, even though the critter tried to disguise the fact that she was laying eggs by putting them in a heart shape, this "love nest" was not something I loved. These were Shield Beetle eggs! The same Shield Beetle that goes by the better known name of STINKBUG! Yep, these were the eggs from one of those nasty, foul-smelling, juice-sucking critters that ruin tomatoes, berries, peaches and any number of other crops by sticking that proboscis of theirs in and sucking the thing dry! They cause more blighted tomatoes than any other critter and I had missed the opportunity to squish dozens of the critters. The female had done a great job hiding the eggs under the leaf until the storms flipped it over. Still, it was too late for me to do anything about the possibility of mass destruction of my garden so I sat and admired the beauty from which all of those little beasts hatched! Love nest....hmmph! I have no love for stinkbugs!
