Cleaning out my Broccoli patch was a much-neglected chore. I found to my dismay, that all kinds of creepy crawlies have made their home in the plants while I was ignoring them. Some I already knew, like my nemesis the cucumber beetle (found two, squashed one) and a daddy longlegs. But all these other bugs were new faces to me!
I think this one is a lacewing (a friend to the gardener)
but in all the photos I've seen of them the insect holds the wings vertically, and this one had his wings held horizontally over the body.
I found all sorts of cocoons, which I assume are from the white cabbage moth. Most were dull greyish tan,
one was bright green.
I disposed of all those, as well as a few clusters of eggs I found (but I don't know whose they are).
The biggest surprise were these tiny brightly colored bugs.
Once I spotted one, I started to find them all over the place!
I'm assuming where there's lots of plant damage and lots of bugs, they are the culprits. They squished easily, like caterpillar bodies.
But then I found this much larger one, which had harder wing cases and flew a short distance before I caught and squished him too.
My attempts to scout out their identity online has been futile. Anybody familiar with this bug? What is it?
Well, the Broccoli patch is (mostly) all clean now! Of debris, litter and pests. I'm sure I missed some bugs so I'll check again tomorrow.
1 comment:
A book taught me. It's the harlequin beetle.
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