The Usual Suspects- Bug Lineup

Whilst walking about ye olde garden a couple of days ago I came upon this lil' buggie, first on my Rose Mallow Hibiscus (from local Gardens Oy Vey years ago, perennial and AWESOME!) and then I noticed its presence on my hollyhock leaves:

There were a good amount, about 8 on the hibiscus, and a few on the hollyhock.  Each bug was 0.5cm in length and a couple thick.

 
I flicked off a couple from the hibiscus and refrained from squishing them because they could be unknown beneficials, you know?

Bah, this is just another reminder that I need to work on my bug identification....

Either way, a quick internet search helped me find a million pics of bugs that look similarly like mine.  Lots of tabs in a row like a crime lineup I think has helped me narrow down some bugs over others.

I think (more or less, hope) that it might be a soldier beetle of some type as it's a beneficial:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Soldier_beetle_trypherus.jpg

or a kind of robber fly:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Asilidae_Stichopogon_sp.jpg
(which is still fine, but not so good as these guys seem to kill both good and bad)

Some details that might nix this hope for a soldier beetle is that the antennae of this bug are smooth (at least at the distance I was viewing them at) and the wings are more fly-like than "leather-wing" like, a major characteristic of beetles. So maybe more robber-y?

Another thing is that the eyes of this particular bug I had are well, really buggy. They are bulbous and stick out on the side of the bug's head like Princess Lea's hair buns.

So, as none of these descriptors are exact matches for the ZILLIONS of bugs/beetles that there are I am stumped as to the certainty of my hope that it's a soldier beetle.

Wish I could go up to one and be like, "Good day sir, if I might inquire as to your presence in my garden and the nature of your visit?  Be you friend or foe?  Would you care for a shot of neem oil or some delicious rain water?"

Even better would be if Google could use its Goggles feature for nature rather than just products...  How awesome would that be?!   Conservationists and butterfly counters and the like could make use of their phones in the field!

Anyways though, If anyone has any ideas, or can direct me to a nice entomology professor  who'll actually write back to me with info it would be appreciated. 

LINKS OF INTEREST
http://www.entomology.wisc.edu/mbcn/fea411.html
http://bugguide.net/node/view/312205/bgpage

Plants have needs too.

(slightly weird, but relevant pic from photobucket via clashfever, thanks!)

I'm researching plant nutrients which I will post here in the future, but my reasoning for looking up nutrients was because I was musing on plant needs and of course, as living things like us, they're needs are more similar to ours than you might expect.

Think of a plant as a human here.  Just like any person, plants need beneficial bacteria for nutrition (like the much touted pro-biotics in our guts), and helpful microorganisms that naturally exist and collect inside and outside of us, often called flora/fauna by the scientific community to crowd out and compete with bad bacteria/microorganisms in order to stay healthy.

A good balanced diet and getting vitamins and nutrition this way (compost)  rather than eating crap or processed junk foods (harmful purely chemical fertilizers) and popping a million vitamin pills to make up for poor eating habits.  (Ha, can you imagine a plant thinking/saying, "Does this fertilizer make me look fat?")
 
Exercising and having positive stresses is good for humans and keeps us physically and mentally prepared and sharp.  Plants similarly, by having to fight against the elements and pests when not overwhelmed are healthier and won't get "fat and lazy" by having too many conveniences, like being sprayed with pesticides all the time so not one bug or insect bothers them and they thus build no response to a nibble.  We don't go to the doctor over the slightest headache or fever do we? (Plus, lots of plants make their own aspirin... and so do we, sort of!, see links!)
 http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090106145544.htm
 http://www.livescience.com/strangenews/080918-plant-aspirin.html
 http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/content/interviews/interview/1039/

(Better methods other than pesticides:
http://www.sierraclubgreenhome.com/go-green/landscaping-and-outdoors/safe-pesticides/ )


Taking food (nutrient dense food like whole grains/compost) in slowly rather than all at once (high calorie fast food/straight chemical fertilizers) is better for both of us.

We both need plenty of water so that those nutrients can float all through our bodies, but not so much that we'll die of dihydrogen monoxide poisoning (http://www.dhmo.org/)

 Perhaps this is a stretch but plants too need many varied diverse and interesting relationships (companion planting and beneficial insects) with those they are similar to like humans need other people for support, an ear or to bounce ideas off of.

A good clean home environment (garden bed) that doesn't hide any unexpected guests or intruders (weeds and pests) and makes it easy to just chill and spread out.

If you're a gardener or camper at least, you understand the benefits of a good air movement (who likes to be in a stale room?) and the appropriate amount of sun.  Too much and the burn (sun scald/sunburn/skin cancer) on either plants or us isn't pretty.

So, this was an analogy filled post, but I think when you can relate by remembering that plants are living things not far from yourself, you will be able to relatively easily anticipate your plants' needs.

Green Lacewings!

Can you see it?

See it now?

It's a green lacewing egg! One tiny, singular egg, but still reproduction among the lacewings is going on.

I'm not sure if this lacewing egg comes from completely natural means or from an eggs/larvae I ordered months ago from Gardens Alive that I released.  Either way I'm just excited about this egg, though puzzled too because it's the second or third lacewing egg on a tomato fruit, which is not the best place for a lacewing egg to be, for me at least, because if a fruit is ripe, I need to eat it egg or not.

Lacewings are one of the best beneficial insects to have the garden.  As with many of the beneficial insects, the adults dine on flower pollen and nectar as well as aphid honeydew (a sticky-sweet secretion aphids exude).

It is their predaceous, voracious larvae, also known as "aphid lions" that make quick use of soft bodied pests such as mites, aphids,  mealybugs, thrips, beetle larvae, leafhoppers,  and certain caterpillars.  They dispatch their prey using long mandible jaws which hold their food and then inject a paralyzing venom into the prey which they will then suck the fluids from.  Whee, slurpies!

As female lacewings are rather reproductive, with hundreds of eggs laid a season to equate to potentially 2-6 generations during the growing season (depending if you have a mild winter or not)  with larvae overwintering in small crevices in the ground if it gets cold in your location.

Lacewings do particularly well in high humidity, so they are great in greenhouses, if only I had one :( or in southeastern United States, where I am, yea!

Unfortunately the adult lacewings are most active at night, when I am rarely in the garden, but you can identify them (in pics from the following links) and by their on average 18mm long selves with pale green lace-like wings and golden large eyes.

Larvae are reminiscent of ladybug larvae, like little yellow and brown alligators vs the red and black ones of the lady beetles.

Give adult lacewings a safe dry place to stay by cutting off the bottom of a 2 liter plastic bottle, loosely roll a piece of corrugated cardboard inside, but taut enough to stay in the bottle without falling out and cutting off any extraneous that sticks out from cut bottom.  This provides many crevices for adult lacewings to hide in.  Hang the bottle by the small mouth near a covered location like your eaves or a tree/bushes.

LINKS OF INTEREST:
http://mint.ippc.orst.edu/laceid.htm
http://www.insectary.com/lw/lacewing.htm
http://www.thebeneficialinsectco.com/green-lacewing-larvae.htm
http://www.nysaes.cornell.edu/ent/biocontrol/predators/chrysoperla.html
http://www.gardensalive.com/product.asp?pn=5040&bhcd2=1251947844

Tachinid flies, aerial hornworm marauders (Now, with video goodness!)

Na na na NA NUM! (to the melody of Ride of the Valkyries)

Na na na nah NUM!

Na NA NA NA NUM! DUM DUM DUM DUM!
A couple days ago I came upon this incredible sight in the garden:

Though I'm still an amateur at recognizing beneficial insects, the only fly of use I could recall in my head was the Tachnid fly and after the great pics and footage I confirmed it on the web. (pardons for the weird angle... I don't tend to use my video feature on camera often, so I forgot about the angle).

The tenacity of the fly in the video incredible, to take on such a large, flex-y caterpillar, reminds a person of David and Goliath, or more precisely as this is so far from human relationships, of a great sci-fi action scene flick. If I had the abilities or patience to add little human people running around or hanging onto the leaves this would make this video truly superb :)

Tachinid flies parasitize quite a few common pests such as this hornworm here. This tachinid fly is either directly laying eggs upon the hornworm or is laying live larvae (I know, the phrase" laying larva" is odd enough) onto the caterpillar body, and the larvae will burrow into the host body to FEED before exiting the host to pupate, thus killing the host. Other species of tachinid flies will simply lay their eggs on leaves so their host can eat them and the larvae will hatch inside. (remind me to not eat tomato leaves)

It is my understanding too that a host organism infected by tachnid fly larva are also weakened and do not feed as much, so I left the hornworm alone to serve as a vessel for the cult of Tachinidae and allow their brood to burst forth and populate my garden universe thereafter. (Too sensational?)

The temptation is often great to squish bugs in the garden or unrecognizable eggs, but as I have taken to heart from my readings from the Rodale Institute (http://www.rodaleinstitute.org/), most bugs are good to innocuous, so let them be! (unless you have a serious infestation going on, break out the neem oil)

I'm actually a little surprised to find that I have tachinid flies as the adults feed on little tiny flowers and as my dill, parsley and cilantro bloomed and were then voraciously eaten by the swallowtail caterpillars I didn't think I have enough flowerage to attract them.

Speaking of which, some good flowers to plant to attract and keep the tachinid flies in your garden include:

•Anthemis tinctoria (Golden marguerite)
•Eriogonum fasciculatum (CA Buckwheat)
•Melissa officinalis (Lemon balm)
•Mentha pulegium (Pennyroyal)
•Petroselinum crispum (Parsley)
•Phacelia tanacetifolia (Phacelia)
•Tanacetum vulgare (Tansy)
•Thymus serpyllum coccineus (Crimson thyme)
(Many thanks to FarmerFred.com for the info)

Last but not least, I leave you with another video!
(FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! :)


LINKS OF INTEREST:
http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/NE/tachinid_flies.html
http://www.nadsdiptera.org/Tach/Ohara/Oharahome.htm
http://www.geocities.com/brisbane_flies/TACHINIDAE.htm
http://www.entomology.wisc.edu/mbcn/kyf409.html
http://mothphotographersgroup.msstate.edu/Files/Live/BP/MothTalk/MothTalk015.htm
http://jenny.tfrec.wsu.edu/opm/displaySpecies.php?pn=1040
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tachinid_fly