- Gary350
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 7427
- Joined: Mon Mar 23, 2009 1:59 pm
- Location: TN. 50 years of gardening experience.
Will Smoke kill bugs?
My potato patch has 100s of 1/2 inch long transparent green flying bugs. Not sure what these bugs are & they don't seem to be a problem yet. I decided to do an experiment, I put a bunch of sticks inside this electric BBQ grill and turned it on. It is that time of the day when sun is low on the horizon and wind is dead calm so smoke goes straight up. Maybe tomorrow when there is a breeze I can get smoke blowing through the potato plants. Wonder what smoke will do to bugs? Wonder what smoke will do to plants?
- applestar
- Mod
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- Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
- Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)
Subject: GREEN LACEWINGS, Garden Patrol Sucking Insects/Eggs Squad
Subject: Winter Indoor Tomatoes and Garden 2017-18
...or maybe Green Mantisfly —applestar wrote:Green Lacewing adults are delicate looking things, and their eggs are displayed artfully on delicate thin stalks.
Subject: Winter Indoor Tomatoes and Garden 2017-18
applestar wrote:Sooo excited — I came across a new to me insect!
- Found in the Winter Indoor Garden.
- tiny — only about 1/2 inch long
- gorgeous light green with lacewing like wings
- looks like a tiny baby praying mantis? ...with wings????
~~~ of course I had to look it up. Almost immediately found a reference in list of NJ insects... which led me to this BugGuide listing
Zeugomantispa minuta - Green Mantisfly - BugGuide.Net
https://bugguide.net/node/view/40288Range
e. US: NJ-WI south to FL-TX (rare in northern part of range); Central America to Venezuela(2)(3)(4)
Food
Predatory: larvae feed on spider eggs; adult small insects.
Life Cycle
Larvae penetrate spider egg sacks and develop as parasitoid
...and this...
Real Monstrosities: Mantisfly
https://www.realmonstrosities.com/2014/09/mantisfly.html
- rainbowgardener
- Super Green Thumb
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- Location: TN/GA 7b
- Gary350
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 7427
- Joined: Mon Mar 23, 2009 1:59 pm
- Location: TN. 50 years of gardening experience.
I captured 1 of the bugs they are praying mantis. These are good bugs I am not smoking them. I hope some of these bugs move to other parts of the garden.
Last edited by Gary350 on Sun Jun 10, 2018 12:47 pm, edited 2 times in total.
- !potatoes!
- Greener Thumb
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- Location: wnc - zones 6/7 line
- jal_ut
- Super Green Thumb
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- Joined: Sun Jan 18, 2009 10:20 pm
- Location: Northern Utah Zone 5
"Will Smoke kill bugs?"
Probably not. It may make them move along.
I keep bees and we use smoke to calm the bees. When a bee smells smoke, it will go in the hive and fill up on honey. It is believed they do this to be prepared to leave if the fire burns the hive . They can then carry some of their stores to start a new home. A bee full up on honey cannot bend its abdomen to sting you, so it helps the beekeeper to work the colonies without getting stung.
Probably not. It may make them move along.
I keep bees and we use smoke to calm the bees. When a bee smells smoke, it will go in the hive and fill up on honey. It is believed they do this to be prepared to leave if the fire burns the hive . They can then carry some of their stores to start a new home. A bee full up on honey cannot bend its abdomen to sting you, so it helps the beekeeper to work the colonies without getting stung.