stlara
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Help identifying insect

I'm new to gardening. I have a raised garden that I planted about two weeks ago and today I found a bunch of bugs on my plants. Can anyone help me identify them? What is the best way to get rid of them? I've included a picture, hopefully it turns out (my first time posting, apologies in advance if it doesn't :D ).

Thank you!!
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digitS'
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Elm leaf beetle?

If so, "The elm leaf beetle is an introduced pest that feeds only on species of elm ..." Penn State University Extension (LINK).

I have seen quite a few of them this year.

Steve

RamblingRiver
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https://www.whatsthatbug.com/2006/03/17/ ... sin-bug-2/ These sort of look like orange assassin bugs. If they are be sure and keep them around because they are beneficial insects that prey on pests.

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rainbowgardener
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They are "nymphs" (juvenile forms) of something. If there are a bunch of them, then they are probably not assassin bugs. It is a rule of ecosystems, that vegetarian animals (including the bugs that eat your garden) are much more numerous than the carnivorous predators that prey on them (including beneficial insect predators). It must be so, if wolves out numbered the rabbits and deer they eat, they would all starve to death and soon they would no longer out number their prey.

So assassin bugs tend to be found singly, while the similar looking leaf foot bugs (including squash bugs, stinkbugs and others) tend to be found in herds.

Here's a thread about identifying nymphs of assassin bugs and leaf foot bugs: https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/vi ... ug#p310738

Here's a picture of a mama stinkbug guarding her babies (I didn't know they did that, insects generally aren't real loving mothers):

Image
https://www.brisbaneinsects.com/brisbane ... arent4.jpg

Trouble with ID'ing is that there are many different varieties, with different colors and markings AND they go through several different instars (moltings) that each look slightly different. Here's a picture from bugguide.net of tomato stinkbug juveniles:

Image
https://bugguide.net/images/cache/IZT/L0 ... MRULHZ.jpg

RamblingRiver
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Another good practice for ID'ing pests and beneficials, is to actually sit there and observe (if time permits). There's no substitute for knowledge gained through experience and field study : ) I've learned quite a bit about wildlife here in south Louisiana mostly by simply being a patient observer.

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rainbowgardener
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for some reason the mama stinkbug picture disappeared. Here it is again
mama stinkbug.jpg
mama stinkbug.jpg (39.63 KiB) Viewed 1465 times
https://www.brisbaneinsects.com/brisbane_stinkbugs/

caption says "maternal care is common in stinkbug families." !!

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rainbowgardener
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RamblingRiver wrote:Another good practice for ID'ing pests and beneficials, is to actually sit there and observe (if time permits). There's no substitute for knowledge gained through experience and field study : ) I've learned quite a bit about wildlife here in south Louisiana mostly by simply being a patient observer.
Well, yes and no.... Yes, just sitting and observing what goes on in your garden you will learn a lot as well as being refreshed and renewed. But, personally I could patiently observe my garden all year and I would know a lot about the plants and critters that live there, their habits and behaviors and so on. But observing alone will never teach me their names...



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