- Author: Karey Windbiel-Rojas
#GivingTuesday
Yesterday we posted an “Easter egg hunt” challenge, and as promised, here are the adult insects and spiders with their matching eggs or egg cases pictured. How did you do?
We welcome your feedback, so please sign in and post a comment below to tell us if the egg hunt was easy or difficult, and how many answers you guessed correctly. Or, you can write us a note about the challenge on our UC IPM Urban/Community Facebook page.
Now for the answers:
A. Harlequin bugs are...
If you grow roses, you might be noticing damage on the flowers caused by hoplia beetles (Hoplia callipyge). Hoplia beetles, which are common between March and May, especially in the Central Valley, feed on the blossoms of light-colored roses and other flowers in your landscape.
Hoplia beetle adults are small, reddish-brown scarab beetles that are often found resting inside a blossom. If you hold one in your hand, you'll notice that most of the body is a beautiful, iridescent silvery green color in the sunlight.
These beetles may also occasionally be found feeding on other plants with light-colored petals.
Some people believe they have the rose chafer or Japanese beetle in their landscape, however...
- Author: Karey Windbiel-Rojas
We have received several questions lately from people who've found large, strange looking insects in their garden and landscape. What are these alien-like creatures? Are they good, bad, do they bite?
They are Jerusalem crickets, also sometimes called sand cricket, niña de la tierra (child of the earth), potato bug, and stone cricket.
Jerusalem crickets are relatives of crickets, grasshoppers, and katydids. These large insects can be up to two inches long and have heads that somewhat resemble a human head. Their head and body are amber colored, with dark stripes on the abdomen, long antennae, and no wings. Their thick legs are...
If you've noticed some odd-looking bugs in your garden or landscape recently, you might have leaffooted bugs. These medium to large sized insects feed on certain fruits, fruiting vegetables, nuts and ornamental plants.
Life Cycle
Adult females can lay over 200 eggs during a two-month period during spring. The eggs hatch and the nymphs emerge and can be found together with the adults. During spring and summer, there can be two to three generations of leaffooted bugs in your landscape!
In spring, leaffooted plant bugs often feed on thistles and other weeds. When fruits start to ripen, adults migrate into gardens and landscapes and can be found feeding on tomatoes, pomegranates, and citrus as well as ornamental...
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