Zebra Bug - Longhorn Beetle - ANSWERED

We recently visited friends in Vancouver Island, British Columbia who have a mini-farm with chickens and sheep, an orchard with apples, peaches, sugarplums, blueberries, kiwis, and figs, plus a show-stopping garden full of tomatoes, peas, beans, squash, lettuces, artichoke, and everything else.  Oh, and dinner plate dahlias.  I get lost in their garden every time I visit.   

During my tour through the blueberry patch (in between popping blueberries into my mouth), I came across a fascinating bug. 

 

I believe it was dead when I took these pictures.  I nudged it with my finger and it didn't react.  That's why I was able to run to the house and get my camera, and still find it in the same place.  That also explains why its back left leg is bending the wrong way.  But I think it's really pretty.   Do you know what it is? 

--Rachel

Hey Way,

I have to admit, I saw this and my heart started beating really fast. This is a longhorn beetle, so-named because their antennae are often longer than their bodies. They are a boring insect, and generally attack trees. This one looks a lot like an Asian Longhorn beetle, which would be really, really bad.  Luckily, it's not. It's a North American variety, called a Banded Alder Borer, and they generally attack trees that are already on the ground. Therefore they aren't really pests. They like to lay eggs on the creases of alder trees (and some others). The eggs hatch and then bore under the bark and into the wood. The adults feed on flowers, which is likely why it was in the garden. Knowing that it's a Banded Alder Borer means that it's okay to marvel at how beautiful it is!  You can find this species on the western coast all the way from Alaska down to Central and Southern California and New Mexico.

This is not an Asian Longhorn Beetle, but it is important to be able to identify the differences.
Asian Longhorn Beetles are a serious pest. They were discovered in Brooklyn in 1996. Shortly afterward, they were all around New York. Several trees in Central Park had to be removed due to infestations. Since then, they've spread to New Jersey, Chicago, Ohio and Massachusetts. They found 6 infested trees in Boston, directly across the street from the oldest arboretum in the United States. Massachusetts has removed at least 28,000 trees so far. Ohio is at serious risk, due to how much of the economy depends on the trees. They have invaded Britain, Germany and Austria. They have been discovered in warehouses throughout the country, including the British Columbia and Washington State. Luckily, fantastic warehouse workers have caught them before they were allowed to get out.  This pest chews up a lot of deciduous trees. Think the dreaded bark beetle in the west, except that they aren't picky about trees: ash, maple, birch, elm, poplar, willow, and several others.


People who live in New England should report any sightings of this insect. This site provides a lot of good information. The "Spot It" tab has a bunch of pictures and information on how to identify both the beetle and the damage. You can also report a sighting.  http://beetlebusters.info/

Identifying the Beetle:
The Asian Longhorn Beetle looks a lot like this one, in that they are zebra striped. They are shiny black beetles with white stripes/spots on their bodies and on their antennae too. The antennae are longer than most other beetles' antennae, and can even be longer than their body. The Banded Alder Borer, however, has a white thorax with a big black dot. The Asian Longhorn has a black thorax. The thorax is the segment right below the head. The neck, if you will.

Asian Longhorn Borer:

Not One: Here's the lovely gal you discovered, a Banded Alder Borer:

See the difference?
Here's another picture of an Asian Longhorn Beetle:

On the eastern coasts, you won't see the Banded Alder Borer, but there are some other lookalikes. This site does a good job of helping you identify them.
http://www.uvm.edu/albeetle/identification/index.html#alderborer
But if you are in an infested area, and you see something you think could be an Asian Longhorn, I'd just go ahead and report it anyway. It can't hurt and it might save all the trees in your neighborhood.

And people throughout the country should have a general idea what to look for. We really don't want these spreading.

Beautiful Beetle - Answered

Aim:

I finally completed a major garden project today. I used to have gravel walkways between my raised beds, but over time, the barrier fabric underneath stopped suppressing weeds. Last year and this spring, dandelions overtook the gravel, and their strong taproots grew straight through the fabric. Today I tore it all up and planted Corsican mint, a spreading herb that you can walk on. Added bonus: it releases minty air freshener every time you step on it.

As I was disturbing the rocks and soil and dandelions, I turned up some creatures. Notably, a fair population of roly-poly's, plus this purplish beetle.

You can see both in the picture above. I took this additional photo, mostly because I know how much you like beetles. (Don't you have a coffee-table book with photos of beetles that look like jewels?)

Although very pretty, I wonder whether the beetle is good/bad/indifferent to my garden? I found it in the pathway, not feeding on any vegetation. So, I did not kill it.

Also the roly-poly things. Again, they were in the pathway, not my actual beds. Are they detrimental, or a sign of something else that is bad?

--Rach


Answer

I'm not sure what kind of beetle that is. There are a lot of beetles. When someone asked the scientist J.B.S. Haldane what he'd learned about the Creator from studying His work, Haldane replied that God has, "and inordinate fondness for beetles." There have been over 350,000 species of beetles described (slightly more than 4 per day since we started keeping track in the 1700s). And my favorite statistic: if every plant and animal species in the world were placed in a single file line, 1 out of every 5 would be a beetle. They inhabit pretty much every habitat in the world. And, yeah, I have a coffee table book that's full of pictures of them. But I'm not very good at identifying them by sight, except for some of the usual suspects. I especially like the Clown beetles that do handstands when disturbed and aquatic whirligig beetles.

That said, I think you have some type of carabid there, which would be a good thing. The first picture looks like it has fused elytra (the hard cap on the back of the wings), which points to a carabid. There are about 40,000 species of carabids world wide, and at least 4,000 in North America. They're called ground beetles, and several species are cosmopolitan (meaning they don't seek out humans, but they thrive in areas with humans). They're primarily nocturnal, and spend the days under bark and/or rocks. Good news: if it's a carabid, it's probably eating your slugs. They hunt at night, so you wouldn't be able to see them in action unless you brought out a black light and looked for them. I might be wrong, so keep an eye on your plants. But I'm pretty sure it's a good thing you left it alone.

Roly Polys (or pill bugs or sow bugs) are often blamed by home gardeners for damage caused by other pests, because they are so ubiquitous. I was reading a forum about slug damage, and several people swore the damage was caused by these (pill or sow) bugs. Nevermind that their little mouths are waaay too small for that. They feed primarily on decaying plant matter, so you'll have them in any garden that uses a lot of compost. They're very good to have in a compost pile. They have been known to feed on seedlings, which is why some gardeners blame them for damage. If you catch something chomping away, you assume it's causing the harm you see. But unless you have a ridiculously huge population, they can't do much damage to a plant. You won't see them stripping a garden. Usually, it's the case of a sick plant (due to other culprits) where the roly polys get in on the fun. Because they feed during the day and are recognizable, people blame them. Fun fact: the scientific family name is Armadillidiidae, because they look like little armadillos. Dorky fact: I used to play bug doctor with roly polys at Grandma's house: they were sick when they curled up, and I had healed them when they started walking around on my hand.

In conclusion: I think both the beetle and roly polys are a good thing to have in the yard. Let me know if you see the beetle over by your garden, because I could be wrong in my identification. My guess is that you only saw her because you were redoing the path.

Black Bug on Tomato Plant

Amy:

I have never had a problem with pests on my tomatoes until this spring. Some of the tomato leaves have bites taken out of them. Luckily, the recent hot weather and sun have given my tomatoes enough vigor to ward off the effects, but I took a couple of pictures a few weeks ago when I was concerned about them. You can see it in the first picture, below.

I noticed a little black bug on some of the leaves. I used the macro setting on the camera to take a close-up of it. Thoughts?

Like I said, the good news is that most of my tomato plants are tolerating whatever pest it is. It's not killing them completely. But I'd like to know what it is, because it's certainly taking out some of the leaves, which are very important for sugar production to fuel the tomato fruits that will arrive soon.

----------------------------------------

Rachel:


I... really don't know what the black bug is. My first thought is that it's some sort of robberfly, which would be good. However, the wing placement is wrong. And it might be a leaf miner you caught while ovipositing. A taxonomist would be able to look at it and say, "Oh, that's a grylloblattid." (Actually, a taxonomist would never say that because grylloblattids live under glaciers, but you get my drift.) Keep an eye on the plant, and let me know if you find any more. If you do, try to get another picture. I should warn you, though, that I'm better at identifying larval stages that are more likely to be eating the plant. Most of the adult pests of tomato (ie insects that eat the leaves when they are fully grown) are beetles. If this is a pest, it's probably a female depositing her youngsters.

I'm more concerned with the tiny green things I can see below that gal. I can't tell what they are from the picture. If you could go out with a magnifying glass or loop and describe them, that would help. They could be psyllids, which are only a few millimeters long, but you said the tomatoes are doing well. Psyllids have toxic saliva, which causes the leaves to turn yellow. They probably aren't causing the holes. So, even if you have a few psyllids, the plant is overcoming them. They could also be little baby leaf miners that the mom just popped out. I really don't know.

Whatever it is, it can cause the plant to produce less fruit.

Let's talk damage: you've got a moth leaf miner, but it doesn't seem too bad from the picture. You've got something taking out large holes. Normally, I'd assume this is some kind of worm (caterpillar), probably a cabbage looper and maybe a hornworm. Cabbage loopers (see left) are small, green and cute. They hang out on the underside of leaves, and chew everything but the leaf stems. Hornworms are big, with a horn sticking out of their butts (see left below). 1 lonely hornworm can do a lot of damage to a given plant, but Home gardens don't usually have more than one or two. These caterpillar eggs are laid singly, and the insects have a relatively large generation interval. If you don't have a heavy infestation, just pick any caterpillars off when you find them. I'd hate to waste any Bt on a plant that's doing okay, because it may be something else. But check the plant. Hornworms will eat your baby tomatoes too. Make sure you check the plant when there is plenty of daylight, but the sun isn't directly shining on it. Early evening and late morning are good times to look.



There are a number of beetles that feed on tomato leaves. The small things I can't see could be flea beetles. They leave smallish holes in leaves, some of them expanding to create bigger holes. You'll see them hanging out all over if it isn't too hot out. Let me know if you find any beetles on the plant. If you find one that looks like the picture on the right, don't touch it. It might have color on it, but the body style will be similar. That's a blister beetle. They cause, wait for it... blisters! I don't think you have any of them. If you find some, let me know. We'll talk pest management then.

Finally, there are leaf miners that can cause holes to appear in a plant as well. I see some "windowing" damage, where all of the leaf is removed save for a thin layer. Sometimes these thin layers get knocked out (by watering, wind, etc) and turn it into a full-fledged hole.

Do me a favor and look closely at the holes. Does it look like they were formed by something taking small bites, and turning it into a big hole? Are the edges pretty rounded?

Look for caterpillars around your tomato plants; look for any kind of beetle as well. If you can find any of the things I circled in the first picture, try to get a better look at them. Also, if you can get another picture of the black fly-type insect. If the damage has changed at all, I'd like to see another big picture of the plant.

Also, I realize this is a little late. So if your tomatoes are doing fine, then just ignore!

----------------------------------------
Aim,

You are a major dork. What is oviposting?? It sounds like a scientific euphemism for bug sex.

Speaking of which, the black bugs are multiplying. I examined another tomato plant this evening and found a community of the black bugs. I took some more pictures (see below). Damage-wise, the only thing I can find is some mysterious curling of the leaves. At first I though the curling had to do with lack of water, but no. So, I can't tell if the black bugs are good-guys eating something bad that I cannot see, or whether they are chomping on my tomato leaves, or whether they are just chilling and keeping it real.

But it's a little unnerving to see the congregation of them on my tomato. I'm obsessed with my tomatoes. It's hard not to be obsessed with tomatoes in the pacific northwest, where tomatoes arguably are not supposed to grow, because it is so far away from their native climate. I start them from seed in the late winter and nurture them all the way through the clouds and rain of spring.  I get very invested in seeing them eventually produce fruit.

Anyhow, here are the mystery bugs.

--------------------------------------

Rach,

Ovipositing is totally all about sex. Sorta. The sex has already taken place. It refers to when the female deposits a fertilized egg. And it covers all kinds of activities. A leaf miner, for instance, has a structure which slices into the leaf but not all the way through. Therefore, when the egg hatches, the larva is protected inside the leaf. Honeybees have converted their ovipositors to stingers. So a male bee can't sting you, because they don't have the sexual organs to create a stinger. Dragon and damselflies have long ovipositors because they place eggs on vegetation just below the surface of the water. You'll see the male riding piggyback on the female, until she dips her abdomen into the water. He's making sure that another male doesn't eject his sperm and replace it with his own. Some males get around this by pretending to be females. So the other guys don't know that she mated. We call these "sneaky males." Highly scientific term, there. Also, if the female has mated twice, she can manipulate which sperm she prefers while it's all mixing around in her spermatheca (doesn't that sound dirty). Insects have some pretty freaky sex. That's actually pretty tame. Don't get me started on spit balls.... Anyway. uh. So that's ovipositing.

I'm a little confused because I don't see any damage on the leaves. Is there any substantial damage? This morning I was thinking it might be leaf miners. But I don't see any mining going on in these pictures. I'm actually leaning towards psyllids again. They certainly look like psyllids from here. Also, the immatures are so small, they can be hard to see. They cause the most damage in young plants and transplants. They also cause curling of the leaves. Here's a picture of an adult psyllid.

I think I mentioned this earlier, but psyllids introduce a toxin that causes leaves to turn yellow. We don't know think the adults do this. It's possible that you had a pretty large population of immature psyllids bothering the plant, but that the adults are now hatching. They're still feeding, but they don't have toxic saliva. That might explain why the plant doesn't seem as stressed. Of course, these psyllids will reproduce. You might go through another cycle where the immatures damage the plant. It might be strong enough to overcome them at this point. I'd say just keep an eye on it. Maybe wipe off the plant and try to kill as many as you can. If the plant starts looking bad again, there are organic pesticide which seem to work okay. There are natural enemies of psyllids, like the lacewings you're releasing, but they don't seem to eat the psyllids during the time they're dangerous. So, organic pesticides work in a pinch. Specifically the Ensure version of Spinosad. This is a nicotine-based pesticide that's made from fermenting the microorganism Actinomycetes spinosa. It targets the nerve synapses by binding to the nicotine receptor site. (There are some nicotine-based pesticides that are NOT organic, just FYI). It doesn't harm natural enemies. It comes as a spray, so you don't have to worry about eating it. Just clean off the tomatoes, if you spray when you have any.

Oooo also. If you know you have psyllids in the garden, DON"T use any carbamate pesticides on any other plants. Sevin is a common name. They actually promote psyllid populations.