Tomato Hornworms and Parasitic Wasps

After squirrels and deer, the tomato hornworm may be the bane of a tomato grower's existence. Fortunately, tomato hornworms and parasitic wasps go together like tomatoes and basil. Finding a tomato hornworm in your garden is not the end of the world if you catch them early, and if you employ natural gardening techniques, they garden is brought into balance by bracondid wasps.

Spotted Cucumber Beetle

The spotted Cucumber Beetle is a common beetle found in the home garden. It has a black head and antennae with a yellow-green colored body. It has twelve dark spots on the top and three pairs of short legs. One common name is the southern corn rootworm because in the larvae stage it feeds on the roots of plants.

Graphocephala coccinea: Candystriped Leafhopper

I found this striking bug in the garden a while back and was mesmerized by the colors but I couldn't get a good picture because it kept hopping away whenever I got close enough. I'd been waiting to see if I could get a better photo of it before uploading but I haven't seen them in the garden since I took this picture.

Brown Lacewing

As the sun was setting one day I went out into the garden looking to photograph bugs. And like is common for me I got down on the ground and close up to the foliage and waited to see what moved or landed. Moments later this rather boring looking bug landed on some foliage and I decided to snap a photograph of it.

Recently while clearing out my hard drive I came across the photo and was pleasantly surprised by the effect of the setting sun on it's wings. To me it looks like the sun streaming in through a stained glass window and aside from this "aint it cool" effect I didn't think much of this bug that I've seen a lot around Chicago.

That all changed today when I learned that this brown lacewing bug is actually very beneficial in the garden. I don't know if it helps with pollinating flowers but I've learned that in the larvae stage and even as adults they are voracious eaters of aphids and mites. Like ladybugs they are a biological control of pests that we should encourage instead of using insecticides.

One really cool (to me at least) factoid about this bug it is that it's also known as "trash bug" because Green Lacewing larvae cover themselves in debris and insect carcases as seen in this photo. I'm guessing this is a method of camouflage that helps the larvae avoid becoming a meal .

Chalybion californicum- Mud Dauber Wasp

I was photographing some butterflies in my garden when this metallic blue wasp landed near me and startled me. The blue green color of this bug is striking and I'd never seen one like it in Chicago before. After some Googling I've learned that it is a Chalybion californicum or commonly called a Mud Dauber Wasp.

Atteva punctella-Ailanthus Webworm Moth

Atteva punctella or Ailanthus Webworm Moth is thought to be native to South Florida and the American tropics. How it made it to my garden is a bit of a mystery because it isn't suppose to over winter in cold climates.

Natural Methods Of Pest Control

This morning I woke up to find that a couple of the seed heads on my poppies were covered with black aphids. My first reaction was to run inside and pick up an insecticide but I remembered that I am trying not to use chemicals in my garden like I did last year. I almost searched on-line for one of those homemade concoctions to kill them but then I remembered that I had ladybugs somewhere in the garden.

 

Use a Digital Camera to Find Bugs on Plants

If you were really good this year you like thousands of others have probably unwrapped a Digital Camera and you're playing around with the things right now. You're probably thinking of all the family and vacation photos that you will be taking with it but have you thought about what a great resource it is for you as a gardener?

Weed Wacker

I was taking a walk in the neighborhood taking photos of the bulbs that were showing off, when I spotted something a little different. By now you've probably figured out this entry is about a rabbit, but this is not your ordinary rabbit-it's an inner city rabbit. I came across this guy (or girl) out on a busy street where it was sitting beneath a bush eating the Dandelions. This is the third or fourth wild rabbit I have seen in Chicago in all my years here.

I know in many parts of the country this rabbit is a common sight and pest in gardens but here in my neighborhood it's a rarity. It paused it's lunch to allow me to get up close and be able to take a few pictures of it. I'm impressed by it's presence in my 'hood when I take into consideration the loose cats and dogs that it must have avoided to get this far in life. Seeing it brought out the kid in me and made me want to have a rabbit, especially one that goes around the garden eating weeds.