A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2005 Grasshopper question.

Okay...I admit...all I know about bugs are:
ladbybugs and bees = good.
anything else = bad.
Three days ago, I plucked off a big green caterpillar resembling thingy off my bell pepper plant. The plant had been munched on pretty dang bad.
Today, the plant still looks like it's been munched on further. I looked around and found a 3 inch long grasshopper hanging upside down on the plant.



Sooo...my question is... Is the grasshopper there waiting to prey on the caterpillars and other bad bugs? Or is the plant getting chomped on by the grasshopper? I was under the impression grasshoppers are predatory bugs.

Steve

I believe grasshoppers eat vegetation. They are always in my garden late in the season! Can't really help ya.

That aint no grasshopper, it's a preying mantis and yes they are a beneficial insect. They eat aphids.(Amongst other things) There may be an actual grasshopper which is eating your plants but that aint it.
Your assumption that there are two good bugs and the rest are all bad is a little inaccurate. The majority of insects are either beneficial or don't directly affect us and our gardens. The number of pests is a tiny percentage of all bugs. A well balanced garden will naturally control most of these pests. Birds and other insects such as wasps are the control agents used in nature. If you provide a permanent water supply you will attract these helpers. Poison sprays unfortunately tend not to discriminate between good and bad.

I don't see anything but stems and leaves LOL!

I never knew how much damage grasshoppers could do until last year. Seems I've got TONS more grasshoppers than I've ever had before. They eat foliage off of a lot of my plants, basil and my wonder egg plant especially.

Thanks guys!

As Langy pointed out...I guess I really don't know my bugs. I Googled a photo of a preying mantis, and lo and behold, realized that what is was. See, learn something new every day!

Well, it's been intermittently hanging upside down on the same pepper plant for about a week now. It doesn't seem to be afraid of me. So hopefully he (or she? :rolleyes: ) is guarding my plants.

Thanks!
Steve

That's awesome Steve - I have one - just saw it about 2 weeks ago. It's the first one I've seen since I was a kid - seriously. May be I just wasn't looking, I dunno - but I do know they're good to have around, and cool looking to boot

I also noticed that my grasshoppers are eating foliage of plants that aren't healthy or are on their way out...so I'm starting to see the reality of insects leaving healthy plants alone but eating those that aren't healthy that I've heard here so many times by the gardening greats - it kind of makes sense in the whole cycle of life if you think about it - at least it did to me -- but I digress...

So hopefully he (or she? ) is guarding my plants.

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'She' by the look of her. (Betcha didn't think i could tell from here....) The female is considerably bigger and will actually rip the males' head off and eat him in order for them to mate. Don't you just love dominant women?????

Going back to your original post, the caterpillar was probably the culprit. Though it is a bell pepper and the leaves are not much good to you anyway. As long as they are not in large numbers, If you see the critter, ( the caterpillar ) keep an eye on it and see what it does. They sometimes turn into the most beautiful moths or butterflies and for the price of a few pepper leaves are well worth the wait.

I had a baby praying mantis earlier this year but it didn't "stick" around.

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Ok shoot me. I couldn't resist lol.