Insect and Disease Identification Thread

These things (or their close cousins) love Moringa. They used to mass up by the thousands on the trunks till they became one large writhing mass. Intensely itchy if one does crawl up on you by accident, stuff of nightmares.

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i remember the early 80’s where we had bare trees in mid summer. those things were everywhere! my uncle used to pay us to go around picking them off the trees and fences. there were so many, trains got stuck on the track from their squished bodies and cars went off the road if you hit a spot with a lot of them crossing. it was horrible! i was 9-10 then and remember it well. if you hated bugs it was several summers of nightmares!.

Are those the same as “tent caterpillars”?I saw them sometimes in Apple trees,big webby balls at the tops of branches.bb

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That was my thought, too. Cuckoos are supposed to love them.

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i still see them and their cocoons here occasionally but have never seen the numbers like we saw 40+ years ago, thank God! birds do love them but the numbers we had back then the birds couldn’t even put a dent in the population.

The podpiper image is of Gypsy Moth caterpillars.

Tent and Gypsy caterpillars are not closely related, they are in different Superfamilies of moths.

Gypsy Moth caterpillars do not make tents.

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Larry, you’re an insect genius! Thanks.

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Agree that @LarryGene is the insect guru!!

There have been bad years when gypsy moth caterpillars have decimated trees esp. oaks and maples everywhere. Then, I found TB. It is very effective. I am sure they will be back.

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Maybe stag beetles larva (grub worms)?

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Does this look like a Soldier beetle? I have a bunch of them on my flowering cilantro.

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Margined Leatherwing beetle, Chauliognathus marginatus. It is in the Soldier Beetle Family.

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Thank you Larry!

I caught this bug in my yard. Before I take action further ( kill or release), I would like someone to identify this bug and tell me is this a good guy or bad guy.thank
It keeps moving and picture is a little out of focus. It is red with black markings on the back about 3/4 " long.

Milkweed Beetle I think. Not a bad guy unless you like your milkweed to be unblemished.

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Thanks.I don’t grow Milkweed and am wondering what it eats to survive

Black on one peony. Others further away no issues. Never had before. Ideas?

My oregano and lavender have this whitish look, and it seems to be bug caused. What is it? How can I get the plants to be green again?

The oregano , looks like thrips

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Peony

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[DISCLAIMER]Not a pro photographer. AIA for the potatopic[/DISCLAIMER]
Found this squatter on a 3.5yr eureka seedling. Solitary as far as I could tell and not appearing to be wreaking havoc upon the plant itself. Aside from a short-lived fungus gnat issue in its original pot mix, this young citrus hasn’t had to deal with any adversity. So the mob is awaiting your verdict:

:+1: OR :-1: LIVE or KILL