Hi there,
I have hundreds of beetles on this bush. Can someone tell me what they are, and how to get rid of them, even if I need to? They were all over the place, including on me, when I tried weeding ferns from around the bush. Afgreyparrot is going to post the picture for me, since photobucket was NOT working for me. Thanks!
Jonnie...here's the picture.
I was amazed at how many of those beetle things were there!
You ought to have had them falling all over you. Even if you are not squeamish, they will make you feel yucky!
They almost look like a squash bug..
Do you have any close up photos' of like one bug/
And if you don't, and do take one, can you put something in the picture so we can see proportion???
And that is alotttttt of bugs...
What plant are they all on?
Just that one kind of plant???
they are on that one kind of plant that I saw. My son tried to get a close up, and all he got was blur. I am not sure why. It is my granddaughter's camera, and it is brand new, so I think none of us really know what we are doing. I will look and see if I have a better shot of one.
What is a squash bug (that is what I wanted to do with them but there were too many!!!)
I think I have it. hopefully this works.
Here's a link to a
Squash Bug Click on the big picture with all the grey little bugs..
I am still not totally convinced that they are the same..
but maybe the same family
Is the color on the bug that's in the picture on the post, the exact same color the bug is/or was it a camera glitch type...
*it looks like a blueish/pink/purple tint to it too*
well with out a better photo it is hard to get but i am sure they are a "true bug" in the order homoptera. My guess is they are in the seed bug family, Lygaeidae. Most are plant feeders with their piercing sucking mouth parts. The more common seed bug is the milkweed bug.
It looks from the photos they are adults, as immatures they will not have fully deveoped wings, they just have wing pads and can be differnt slightly colors from the adults.
well if you want to kill them you can pick them off and put in soapy water.
I assume they will hurt the plant? They are only on that one plant. They are greyish black (I guess bluegrey/black) and they have a little red at their head...
Weezie, that is close but the color is a little different?
For a better ID there would have to be better photos of the anatomy or someone to have the samples of the bugs. It is hard to ID to genus over the Internet especially when it is an insect that is not of economic importance.
You might be able to track it by host plant.
Could the be box elder bugs?
Box Elder's have bright red lines on them
I thought...
they have some red on them.
What kind of bush is it on, Jonnie?
Dianna
Might be a largus bug, Largus succinctus but again.. hard to tell from the photos.
What I want to know, is WHAT to do about it? What can I spray it with to make them go away? They are eating my wax myrtle.
I'd start squishin' them by hand until you get a positive answer/identification...
I squish alot of bugs..
Holds them at bay for a bit..
Or at the very least, keeps them from mulitplying...
Or even shoosh them into a bucket of hot water w/soap in it and them them drowned...
Weezie,
I am not so sure I can do that. I do type and things some. But I use voice to text to do most of it. I have arthritis in my hands. And there are like thousands of them. Maybe I can get my daughter and granddaughter out here, but they work. And they live in Jacksonville, while I am in Starke most of the time. I would hate to call them out here just to squash bugs.
Maybe take a paper towel and run it from the biggest or widest part, up the stem and see if it squishes them and keeps them in there and you don't need such a heavy grip to do so....
Or flop them off into a bucket of soapy water?
*I do that for Japanese Beetles*
Jonnie,
Suggest you contact the extension office below and ask for advice. Ask for the extension officer, the IPM (integrated pest management) officer or the local Master Gardeners in that order.
Bradford County Cooperative Extension Office
2266 N. Temple Ave., Starke, FL 32091-1028
(904) 964-6280
Good idea. I will try to get out there tomorrow. I didn't think about just doing that. My hands have been hurting lately and it just pains me to even think about having to grip and squish things.
And Temple Avenue is not too far, maybe when I go to the grocery store, I can go by there with my granddaughter. Even if I get rid of them I would like to know WHAT they are, and what to do next time.
Well, time to go mop the floor ...
Even if I get rid of them I would like to know WHAT they are, and what to do next time.
It would help these people tremendously if you can bring samples of the bugs, either alive in a jar or dead in a see-through plastic bag. Be sure to write your name & phone number, in case you can't wait and they have to phone in the results to you at a later time.