I've started a tomato garden just a little while ago. I'm not sure what kind of bugs these are, although I'm convinced they are blister beetles. If they are, then they are the ones that have been eating the leafs on my plants. If anyone knows what these are, how can I "battle" them..(organic insecticide..homemade?) Thank you =]
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they are not a blister beetle-they are longer than they are wide. tjis is some sort of stinkbug and i am thinking probably a soldier beetle because the belly is not green. Soldier beetles are not a pest but a beneficial and should not be killed.
Know that 955 of the bugs in your garden are good guys or neutral and will do most of the bug control work for you, if you let them by not praying pesticides (even homemade ones) at the first sign of insects. Are your tomato plants visibly eaten? have you seen these bugs actually eating the plants or are you just seeing bugs on your tomatoes but no real damage to the plants?
Every organic grower needs a good bug ID book so they know what are good bugs and what are bad bugs. For too long we have been brainwashed by the insecticide corps to believe all bugs are bad (if we believe all bugs are bad we buy more chemicals and they make more profit) when in reality that is not the case-most bugs are good for our gardens.
sprinkle mineral spirits on them. It also works for corn worms. try leaving some epsom salt around the base of the plant.
References :
There are over 2500 varieties of blister beetle in the world. Yes, they do look similar to those in the link below.
I had a swarm of beetles attack my tomatoes one year. They had nearly denuded the plants when I discovered them. There must have been hundreds. I grabbed my canister vacuum cleaner, and sucked them into the vacuum bag one after the other. Initially they didn't notice me, but before long they were actively flleeing the vacuum nozzel. The trip into the bag certainly stunned them if it didn't kill them outright. I simply taped over the opening with packing tape, and threw them in the trash. I don't know how well a miniture vacuum would work, but a shop vac would corral them. Good luck.
References :
http://insects.tamu.edu/fieldguide/bimg167.html
they are not a blister beetle-they are longer than they are wide. tjis is some sort of stinkbug and i am thinking probably a soldier beetle because the belly is not green. Soldier beetles are not a pest but a beneficial and should not be killed.
Know that 955 of the bugs in your garden are good guys or neutral and will do most of the bug control work for you, if you let them by not praying pesticides (even homemade ones) at the first sign of insects. Are your tomato plants visibly eaten? have you seen these bugs actually eating the plants or are you just seeing bugs on your tomatoes but no real damage to the plants?
Every organic grower needs a good bug ID book so they know what are good bugs and what are bad bugs. For too long we have been brainwashed by the insecticide corps to believe all bugs are bad (if we believe all bugs are bad we buy more chemicals and they make more profit) when in reality that is not the case-most bugs are good for our gardens.
References :
I have been growing using organic methods for several decades and work to achieve balance in my garden environment by not killing the bugs if i can avoid it.