Baby lady beetle!

I've been spending a ridiculous amount of time hand picking cucumber beetles out of the garden and so it was nice to spot this welcome fellow, a baby lady beetle!

Lady bug release and a black and blue Eastern tiger swallowtail

Sprinkling nematodes, broadcasting lacewing eggs, and releasing ladybugs in our garden that we ordered from Gardener's Supply Company.

We used a watering can to disperse the beneficial nematodes, then used a butter knife to gently broadcast the lacewing eggs all over the plant leaves (not in the video). We then covered half of the garden with sheets and put most of the ladybugs underneath. We also placed a few under the existing row covers, which is where we placed most of the lacewing eggs. We've since freed the ladybugs entirely and some are still in the garden. I've ordered praying mantis egg cases but I don't think it would be safe to hatch them this late in the summer so we'll probably wait until spring. It will be interesting to see if we can get the garden to police itself of pest bugs, but I imagine it will take some time to get it right. The plan is to inoculate the garden every few weeks with a new pack to try to get a good mix of life cycles among the beneficials in the pack. For info on nematodes, click here. For info on green lacewing, click here. For info on ladybugs, click here.  <- After reading this, I won't be releasing anymore ladybugs.

Spotted today-
Eastern Tiger swallowtail - black and blue color.

Eastern tiger swallowtail

Eastern tiger swallowtail - Papilio glaucus

Candy-striped leafhopper, hobomok skipper and American painted lady

As it turns out, the spray did not work on the plants. The flea beetles and some of his leafhopper friends are back and this is what the broccoli looks like -

Watham 29 Broccoli seedlings (at 4 weeks), insect damage

 

It's not all doom and gloom. These guys might make it:

A few days ago I ordered a beneficial bug pack (pictured below) from Gardner's Supply Co. It should be here any day now. There will certainly be plenty for them to eat when they arrive.

Hopefully, one or all of these things likes to eat/infect whatever is eating my plants.

Some insects spotted in the garden today:

Candy-striped leafhopper (from family Cicadellidae)

Hobomok skipper (Poanes hobomok)

Hobomok skipper (Poanes hobomok)

And an America painted lady, or just American lady (Vanessa virginiensis):

Orange sulfur (Colias eurytheme) video taken on July 29, 2016

Orange sulphur - (Colias eurytheme)   7.29.16

8.2.16 Gray hair streak butterfly and the (very unwelcome) striped flea beetle

Click on names of plants, insects and products for more information about them.

Yesterday I broke down and sprayed my broccoli, lettuce, cabbage and radishes with Dr. Earth Pure & Natural Vegetable Garden Insect Killer. I had tried, unsuccessfully, to  block the pest attack with row covers made out of Shark Bite tubing and garden fabric .

SharkBite

Agribon garden fabric

After installing the row covers, I  was able to get a good enough photo of this very tiny insect to be able to identify him. It turns out he is a bad dude known as the striped flea beetle - Phyllotreta striolata. AND he pupates right in the soil at the base of the plants that he will eat when he emerges, so my covers were only good for protecting him from predators, though were successful at keeping the cabbage butterfly out.

Striped flea beetle - Phyllotreta striolata

These things were quite literally eating me out of my leafy greens. I had no beneficial bugs in sight. So after trying to pick everything (flies which turned out to be beetles, eggs, and caterpillars) off by hand FAILED and using a bug barrier FAILED, I had to take desperate measures or just give up. I had picked this stuff up at Home Depot earlier for around $10 in case of emergencies.




And it WORKED. For now. I hope it doesn't take long for the spray to fade off and the soil to recover where I sprayed because I am planning on ordering a package of ladybugs, praying mantis egg cases and nematodes very soon (more on that later). And I do not want them exposed to the spray. If anyone knows how long the spray will taint my plants and soil for beneficials, please leave a comment.

And last but not least, a new visitor, gray hair streak butterfly - Strymon melinus, feasting on yarrow (strawberry seduction) - Achillea millefolium

 Right after I filmed this butterfly I found, not ONE, not even TWO, but THREE LADY BUGS in the moonlight coreopsis!

7.31.16 Silver spotted skipper, common eastern bumblebee, spotted cucumber beetle

Silver spotted skipper - Epargyreus clarus

Common eastern bumblebee - Bombous impatiens

spotted cucumber beetle - Diabrotica undecimpunctata