imafan26
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Posts: 13947
Joined: Tue Jan 01, 2013 8:32 am
Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

Re: Creature Feature

I saw a stink bug yesterday so they must be out. Luckily, I don't see that many of those. The leafhoppers on the other hand are another story.

imafan26
Mod
Posts: 13947
Joined: Tue Jan 01, 2013 8:32 am
Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

Asian Flower Beetles
I caught one of these on my corn today. I usuallly see hordes of them on overripe papaya. They are about the size of your thumb and have a hard shell with white markings. Once they have gorged they get quite slovenly and sluggish it is the best time to brush them into a zip loc bag and seal it . I leave the bag out in the sun for a few hours and they are toast. Then I toss the bag in the trash. They usually only go after fermenting and damaged fruit so the best way to make them leave is good sanitation and removing overripe fruit. This is a type of scarab beetle that invaded Hawaii in the 1950's. Recently the rhino beetle has been attacking coconut trees and people are calling mistaking this beetle for the larger rhino beetle. Rhino beetles attack and can kill coconut trees. They live and breed in mulch so sitings of the beetle should be reported to the Department of Agriculture. It is difficult to control since landscapers will dump mulch anywhere they can to avoid tipping fees. Transporting of contaminated mulch allows the beetles to spread. The first rhino beetles were seen at Hickam AFB and has now been seen in other communities.

https://idtools.org/id/beetles/scarab/fa ... name=15220
https://hawaiinaturejournal.weebly.com/h ... wer-beetle

imafan26
Mod
Posts: 13947
Joined: Tue Jan 01, 2013 8:32 am
Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

Someone at work was talking about this green bug that was infesting his peppers. He said that neem wasn't working.
Green stink bugs are more common than the marmolated stink bug here. In spring and summer it seems like every sucking pest is out looking for a hapless plant to feast on.
While people want to be organic, few realize the limitations of organic pesticides. They don't work well on hard bodied insects like stink bugs. Keeping the plants as healthy as possible and planting insectary plants and providing habitat for beneficial insects is a better control. Natural enemies can do a decent job of control if they are given half a chance and a healthy plant is better able to weather an attack than a weak one. Hand picking is one way to control them. Look for the egg masses under the leaves and remove them. Control weedy hosts or grow trap plants that will attract them and hopefully stay away from the other plants.
The other hard bodied insects that will be out now are leaf hoppers, psyllids, beetles, grasshoppers, locusts, and weevils. Some insect eating birds will feast on them, and geckos do a good job of catching them too. Bt will work on most caterpilllars.

https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/veg ... nk_bug.htm

imafan26
Mod
Posts: 13947
Joined: Tue Jan 01, 2013 8:32 am
Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

Mosquitoes are hard to control. The ones here only need a 1/4 inch of water to breed. They start to get really bad 3 days after the rain has stopped or if you live near water that doesn't have good circulation.
The recommended controls are to empty saucers and anything in the yard that may hold water like ornamental bowls, hub caps, tires, and pans. People started ripping out bromeliads because they could breed mosquitoes, but it is not a problem if they are watered regularly. While they do hold water in the cups, mosquitoes need standing water to breed and if the water is changed daily they don't breed. I put a little bleach or soap in my water barrel to keep mosquitoes that get past my barrel filter from breeding and it works petty well. Not much gets past my filter. I put pieces of mosquito dunks in the fountain and other places that I cannot easily empty.

I don't get bitten very much but since Dengue fever, west nile (isn't here just yet, but could come on migrating birds from the West Coast eventually), zika virus ( cases have all been from people who travelled, but not one acquired locally), and mallaria are all mosquito borne illnesses you don't want to get. I usually wear long sleeves and pants with a hat out in the yard. If it has rained recently, I put on deet when I go out the door. The community garden has a lot of mosquitoes and there I have to make sure I get the deet on my face since they like to bite my face and neck since I usually don't spray deet in my face. I am considering getting a moscuito net hat for the garden. I saw one online.



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