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Can anyone identify these insects for me?

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Peppa  Send Peppa a private message!




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Posted on Wednesday, May 07, 2008 - 03:29 pm EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

Hi,

I noticed some strange bugs on the new growth of my Japanese maple. This picture is an extreme close-up; the bugs are about 1 mm in size. The round ones are very hard; I had to crush them between my finger nails to get rid of them. Would you happen to know what these are and maybe how to control them?



Thanks very much!

Peppa - WA, Zone "8"
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Pinkdamsel  Send Pinkdamsel a private message!




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Posted on Wednesday, May 07, 2008 - 06:48 pm EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

Hi Peppa, hmmm, the hard smaller ones resemble lady bugs which are the good bugs in gardens that eat aphids and scale bugs, and I'm sure a few other stuff.

Not sure about the other bug.

Pinkdamsel - Louisiana, Zone "9a"
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Duckwatcher  Send Duckwatcher a private message!




Posted on Friday, May 09, 2008 - 01:52 pm EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

Hmmm... the plump ones make me think of what happens to aphids when they are implanted with a parasitic wasp egg, but it could be the second phase for these larva. I don't think they are ladybugs b/c here is a picture of them


Also the fact they are on new growth would be concerning for me, unless you see aphids as well, in which case the larva would be eating them

Not sure what they are sorry. You could try removing some and taking them to your local nursery they should know :)

Duckwatcher - Northern California, Zone "9b"
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Loretta  Send Loretta a private message!



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Posted on Friday, May 09, 2008 - 02:47 pm EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

DW, that is what I thought too, aphids infected with parasitic wasps. Not ladybugs but still a good thing.

Loretta - NJ, Zone "6"
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Gaia  Send Gaia a private message!


Posted on Monday, May 26, 2008 - 12:29 pm EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

Hey Duckwater I've got those aphids implanted with a parasitic wasp egg and was wondering what they were. Just been reading about them and they sound pretty useful in the garden.

Gaia - Balearics, Zone "?"
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Growit  Send Growit a private message!



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Posted on Monday, May 26, 2008 - 01:31 pm EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

I would say too small and too many to be a predator. They do not hang about in groups as it means too much competition for food.
They look like a pest that has overwintered in the maple but that may not be their food source.
The nearest I could find was this..
http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/articles/20070905/Note2.asp
Can yours change colour Peppa?

Growit - Hants UK, Zone "8/9"
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Loretta  Send Loretta a private message!



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Posted on Monday, May 26, 2008 - 05:53 pm EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

I can say for sure those are not Golden Tortoise Beetles which I get here. These you will find on morning glories and sweet potato vines.



The parasitic wasp is not visible in the first picture. They lay their eggs inside the wasp and the eggs pupate inside the aphids, alien style. I do have a picture somewhere of a dead mummy I found in my garden. It would take me a while to find it right now but they are pearly. Here is a link that has a good picture.
Aphid Mummy

Loretta - NJ, Zone "6"
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Growit  Send Growit a private message!



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Posted on Tuesday, May 27, 2008 - 11:04 am EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

Loretta wrote on Monday, May 26, 2008 - 05:53 pm:

Here is a link that has a good picture.

YUK!
Have you seen your tortoise beetles change colour Loretta? Such a neat trick.
If not that I will go hunt again but I am still pretty sure not a beneficial. I know most of them by sight and I have never come across this one. Peppa did also state that they were very, very tiny. To me that, and the fact that there are so many of them together, says pest!
Found this...http://www.whatsthatbug.com/beetles7.html You could post it on here.

Growit - Hants UK, Zone "8/9"
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Loretta  Send Loretta a private message!



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Posted on Tuesday, May 27, 2008 - 12:13 pm EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

I'm not sure if we are understanding each other, Moira or if I am misreading what you are writing. The infected aphids in the picture is a pest but the parasitic wasp pupating inside the aphids is a beneficial. The fat round ones are just farther along to becoming mummies than the more normal looking aphids. Here is a search page on google that shows a little more...

Aphids and parasitic wasp search. This little black wasp is growing inside the aphid only visible by the aphid's symptoms.

Or am I totally off base here?

Loretta - NJ, Zone "6"
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Growit  Send Growit a private message!



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Posted on Tuesday, May 27, 2008 - 12:52 pm EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

Loretta wrote on Tuesday, May 27, 2008 - 12:13 pm:

The fat round ones are just farther along to becoming mummies than the more normal looking aphids.

Aha! Now I get it. Must be having one of my blonder moments lol!
So you are saying those fat round beetle like things started off as those aphid like things until a parasitic wasp jumped in (literally)
I was still off looking for a beetle that started life looking like that larva.
I know parasitic wasps do this but I have never seen the results before. Very gruesome but quite handy to be born in your dinner!

Growit - Hants UK, Zone "8/9"
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Loretta  Send Loretta a private message!



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Posted on Tuesday, May 27, 2008 - 02:57 pm EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

Growit wrote on Tuesday, May 27, 2008 - 12:52 pm:

Very gruesome but quite handy to be born in your dinner!



LOL! That's one way to put it!

Loretta - NJ, Zone "6"

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