Caviar on Lettuce

 

Caviar anyone?

 


















Caviar on lettuce? I wish - no, turns out this is old fashioned caterpillar poop, of all things. Out harvesting greens for my salad and found these. Wondered if the caterpillars had a preference of one type of lettuce over another but seems like they like them all.


The caterpillars grow fast - in proportion to what they eat. Best to catch them small if they are there. More salad for me to eat than them. I wonder if caterpillar poop makes good compost?

 

Another sign of a visitor in the garden. Chewed up lettuce leaves.



 

 

Garden Detective Tips
(or what I learn by doing - best way for me)

• Look for telltale signs of bites out of the leaves, or caviar on lettuces.
• Inspect underside of each leaf.
• The green caterpillar is easier to find on the darker lettuce leaves than on the green leaves.
• It is easier to detect signs left from the green cateripillar on the green ones cause of the contrasting droppings they leave behind.

Bug Detail
Sunday afternoon and want am I doing? Trying to ID an ugly bug in my garden to figure out if it’s a good one or bad one. Can’t decide if it’s a wheel bug (good one) or a leaf footed bug or ? I did find a good link of different photos of bugs at True Bugs.

I have the Texas Bug Book by Malcolm Beck and Howard Garrett to check if they are good or bad bugs. This books has some great stories of Malcolm's experiences with lots of bug pictures.

 

Feel like a kid again checking out what’s close to the ground. Now with the super raised garden beds I can really get up close and check things out. Will try and get a photo for next time.

 

I know if I leave most things alone, nature will step in and take care of it for me anyway.

The Good, the Bad & the Buggy Part II

I'm a gardener who likes to "stick" with help from Mother Nature and avoid using pesticides. When you use pesticides, you run the risk of getting rid of the good as well as the bad bugs. If you wait a bit and observe, you'll find the good bugs come in and take care of the bad bugs.

One of the really good bugs most everyone knows is the Ladybug.
Well the Ladybug Larva is an even better bug as it eats way more
of the bad bugs than the Ladybug does. Since most people don't
recognize it, they may mistake it for a bad bug. That's just one
reason to learn the good from the bad.

Critters to the Rescue

Better yet, you probably have outside help you weren't even aware of.

After finding the Walking Stick, I was pleased to venture out and see my neighbors chickens enjoying a free outdoor all-you-can eat bug buffet in our water soaked area. At least I assume that's what they were eating.

Lizards

I also saw several insect eating lizards - a good sign, as these are also known for eating mosquitoes. Hopefully they will survive Dilly the Cat, who has made it his job to reduce their numbers. This lizard was stationed in the fig tree and as green as the fig leaves around him.

 

Butterflies

Found loads of butterflies all over the fig tree after the rain we had. It's hard to see them against the overripe fruit. Can you find four in this photo?

I think the picture below is of a male Tawny Emperor Asterocampa clyton butterfly (males have triangular hind wings) and looks like it matches a photo in Butterflies of Houston & Southeast Texas by John & Gloria Tveten (p. 174). 

You can see the underside of the butterfly by looking at the three butterflies side by side in the upper left hand corner. The underside is not very colorful. These photos were taken by me on July 2, 2010 in Brownsville, Texas (Cameron County).

  

Inexpensive Methods

If you absolutely must get rid of a bug that you know is bad for your garden, then one of the least expensive ways is using what I call the Double S Twister Tool. 

It's very inexpensive, especially if you get your husband to buy you some nifty gardening boots like these to use. But you don't need fancy footwear to carry this out.

SS Twister

Just lift foot (I don't

recommend bare feet for this),

aim at unwanted bad bug, stomp and squish.

Know Your Bugs

Remember though, don't be pulling this on no Ladybug Larva or good bugs like that. All bugs have a use and if they aren't bothering you, please be kind and leave them alone.