Convergent Lady Beetles, that is. And as you can tell from the graphic photo below, there's a few gentlemen at work as well.
And the next photo shows that they've got their work cut out. The favas are getting to be infested with aphids, this photo is of a minor patch of the pests. In the meantime, they've been getting a bit of help from some beneficial wasps. You can see the bloated brown aphids, a sign that there is a wasp larvae growing inside.
And the next photo shows a cluster of lady beetle eggs. I hope there's lots more eggs that have been laid on these plants. Lady beetle larvae have voracious appetites for aphids.
And the next photo shows that they've got their work cut out. The favas are getting to be infested with aphids, this photo is of a minor patch of the pests. In the meantime, they've been getting a bit of help from some beneficial wasps. You can see the bloated brown aphids, a sign that there is a wasp larvae growing inside.
And the next photo shows a cluster of lady beetle eggs. I hope there's lots more eggs that have been laid on these plants. Lady beetle larvae have voracious appetites for aphids.
There's all phases of the lady beetles in the garden right now. Here's a shot of a larva. The young larvae pierce and suck the contents of their prey. Older larvae and adult beetles simply munch their food.
And the next photo is of a pupa that is metamorphosing into an adult beetle.
Double trouble for aphids shown below. There's an adult lady beetle and a Syrphid fly larvae. Adult Syrphid flies feed on nectar and pollen, the larvae feed on soft bodied insects such as aphids. They will grab an aphid in their mouth and suck it dry. I try to keep pollen and nectar producing flowers such as sweet alyssum growing in the garden to attract the adult Syrphid flies and adult parasitizing wasps as well.
I think that the next photo is of a young damsel bug, but I'm not sure. Damsel bugs are generalist predators, they eat a variety of other insects and caterpillars, including aphids.
Another good bug that I've seen in the garden is the Soldier Beetle (Leather-winged Beetle). The adults feed on aphids as well as pollen and nectar.
And yet one more beneficial insect that I've seen is the Spider Mite Destroyer Lady Beetle. This is a tiny (1/16th-inch) beetle with a shiny black body. Both adult and larvae feed mostly on mites.
There was a question in the Sunday SF Chronicle this past weekend for the Golden Gate Gardener about black aphids on favas. The recommended treatment was to spray with summer oil, preferably a vegetable oil based one. I may keep this in mind if the lady beetles and their allies don't make a dent in the aphid population pretty soon.
I think I must be doing something right to have so many good bugs present in the garden. One of my favorite websites for information about beneficial insects is UC's Natural Enemies Gallery . There's lots of good information there regardless of where you garden.
Happy Earth Day!
And the next photo is of a pupa that is metamorphosing into an adult beetle.
Double trouble for aphids shown below. There's an adult lady beetle and a Syrphid fly larvae. Adult Syrphid flies feed on nectar and pollen, the larvae feed on soft bodied insects such as aphids. They will grab an aphid in their mouth and suck it dry. I try to keep pollen and nectar producing flowers such as sweet alyssum growing in the garden to attract the adult Syrphid flies and adult parasitizing wasps as well.
I think that the next photo is of a young damsel bug, but I'm not sure. Damsel bugs are generalist predators, they eat a variety of other insects and caterpillars, including aphids.
Another good bug that I've seen in the garden is the Soldier Beetle (Leather-winged Beetle). The adults feed on aphids as well as pollen and nectar.
And yet one more beneficial insect that I've seen is the Spider Mite Destroyer Lady Beetle. This is a tiny (1/16th-inch) beetle with a shiny black body. Both adult and larvae feed mostly on mites.
There was a question in the Sunday SF Chronicle this past weekend for the Golden Gate Gardener about black aphids on favas. The recommended treatment was to spray with summer oil, preferably a vegetable oil based one. I may keep this in mind if the lady beetles and their allies don't make a dent in the aphid population pretty soon.
I think I must be doing something right to have so many good bugs present in the garden. One of my favorite websites for information about beneficial insects is UC's Natural Enemies Gallery . There's lots of good information there regardless of where you garden.
Happy Earth Day!
This is a very nice and informative post. I just realised I've killed Syrphid fly larvaes that were in my aphid infested plum tree thinking that they were nasty bugs. I won't touch them from now on. Thank you! (and I'm sure the Syrphid fly larvae also thank you ;-) )
ReplyDeleteThat was really interesting, and I've bookmarked that site. So far (touch wood) my favas haven't got aphids, but there's plenty of time!
ReplyDeleteThanks for these great photos which will help us all tell good from bad. I hope your ladybirds do their stuff and eat all the aphids. We don't seem to get them much here - I thought it was because it's too dry.
ReplyDeleteNice gallery. It can be hard to find web photos of the beneficials. It does seem to be the season for them and the aphids. Our favas are okay, but the koles get them one by one as they each get ready to bolt.
ReplyDeleteI saw a ladybug pupa on my golden currant the other day and wondered what it was. Now I know!
ReplyDeleteLadybug sex! What a great Earth Day post. :) I hope they make lots more babies for your garden, those black aphids are so pesky. They were outnumbering the beneficials on my broccoli so I gave up growing it. Maybe I'll try again with better companion planting as you do.
ReplyDeleteKaren, Yeah, kinda racey! I doubt the beneficials can control the aphids well enough for you to get edible broccoli. Things have to get pretty ugly before the beneficials step in. I wasn't too concerned about the aphids in the favas because the aphids tend to start at the tops of the plants and there were already a bunch of beans that had set lower on the plants.
ReplyDeleteVery cool post! Happy Earth Day to you.
ReplyDeleteNice Earth Day post. Very interesting!
ReplyDeleteWow! If not for these darlings, we'd be so in trouble with those ever-hated Aphids! Thank you for a brief life cycle and benefits of beetles - a gardener's friend.
ReplyDeleteLove this post! You got such great photos and they are so helpful to see. I've tried to catch our ladies in various stages of development with little to no luck. Well done :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Town Mouse and Sweet Bay!
ReplyDeleteChandramouli, they are darlings!
Nikki, thanks, I'm glad you found the post helpful. :)
What a great post! Love the pictures of the various stages of the lady beetle. I have yet to see any in my garden so far but it still has been rather chilly here. I always look forward to "stumbling" upon them while in the garden.
ReplyDeleteCynthia, thank you! I'm always delighted to see them in the garden too. They're so pretty and helpful.
ReplyDeleteLovely photos. We have exactly the same kind of activities going on in our garden. I'm trying to balance using predators and mechanical management, so I don't have to compost, say, the artichokes. I think we're zone-neighbors.
ReplyDeleteI've had very few aphids this year, and very little spittle bug. Those are my two biggest pests. That alyssum makes me SNEEZE; I grow wildflowers instead.
ReplyDeleteChuck, I used to get loads of spittle bugs when I gardened in Silicon Valley but haven't had any problems with them here. Aphids are the worst insect pest I have to deal with. Lucky me, I haven't come across any plants that get me sneezing, although there was something in the air when I visited Jackson Hole last summer...
ReplyDelete