LADY BEETLE/LADYBUG, Garden Patrol Aphid, etc. Specialist

[Lindsaylew82]

I keep seeing these on the cucumber plants and pumpkins. They look an AWEFUL lot like cucumber beetles....


But I'm hesitant to treat them as such because I keep seeing these. And cucumber beetle babies do NOT look like these...
. They're not the standard black, blue, and orange of the common lady bug larva either.

[applestar]

Isn't that it in the bottom right corner?

https://amorphophallus.files.wordpress.c ... mes_sm.jpg


I saw the Parenthesis the other day on the Hazel bush.

[Lindsaylew82]

Yeah that's it! I see Mexican bean beetle on there, too. So I guess the next question is...Is it beneficial?

Imma go do some researching.

[Lindsaylew82]

It's a beneficial!!!! I don't have any idea what it's eating! I sure don't SEE anything. I've only actually seen one cucumber beetle so far this year! The one I DID see was being all chummy with this lady... Silly cuke beetle.

ETA: I'm only seeing them on the cuke and pumpkin plants. Nothing else.

[applestar]

Every year, the cherry trees get major infestation of oily black aphids. First couple of years, I drove myself crazy, hand picking them, hosing them off, spraying them,... One year I resorted to clipping off every terminally infested leaves. But when I was delayed in taking action at first appearance of the aphids, it became clear that I was "too late" -- every cluster of curled up leaves containing massive number of aphids had a ladybug adult or egg cluster in them.....

Fast forward to this year -- I no longer do anything



...except to collect as much hungry young Garden Patrol members as I need to transport them to their assigned stations.

[Lindsaylew82]

Saw some of the pink spotted ladies today on both the tomatoes and the peppers. Swear it looked like it was munching on the leaves......

I feel like the lady bugs are doubling in appearance everyday! And their larvae!

Noticed some teeny tiny maggots. I can't get a good shot of them, but I believe they're sucking the aphids. They start yellow, but if they're attached to the aphids they turn the same red. Never noticed them before. There a LOADS of them though. I'm seeing a whole lot of aphid "raisins" as well. I'm leaning towards the maggots, or larvae, or whatever they are.

Can't find anything on google that I think matches very well.

[applestar]

Subject: APHID MIDGE, Garden Patrol Aphids Specialist

[MichaelC]

I'll never forget my first year gardening. Something (aphids) was steadily trying to terminate my cucumbers. Then I started seeing these "gross" bugs on them. AHA! Gotcha!

Too bad I didn't look it up first - I killed about half of them before I did look it up and realized that they were ladybug larvae!

[Lindsaylew82]

Omg!!!!!!

This is SO awesome! Aphid Midge!!! I'm certain these are them! And there are literal 10-20 on each large leaf!

I'm so glad I was patient!!! This is what is so glorious about chemical free gardening!!

My day. Is. MADE!!!