Bugs that are pests in the garden.
Grasshoppers are fantastic to watch as they hop from one leaf to another with their enormously long legs. They have wings as well which allow them to go great distances but what is most remarkable is the ‘song’ that the male grasshoppers make by rubbing their back legs together. Apparently this is to help them…
HOW TO IDENTIFY THEM Snails can be as tiny as 3mm long to over 3cm long. They are gastropods which in Latin means ‘gastro’ for stomach and ‘pod’ for foot. They protect their soft body with a hard shell which they can retreat into in danger and in hot weather. Snails have two pairs of tentacles. Their eyes…
HOW TO IDENTIFY THEM Aphids are tiny, soft insects with six legs. They come in many colours including white, green, black and brown. Although they do have wings, most of the time you can see them living in clusters on young shoots, buds and leaves. Aphids attack a wide range of plants but especially rose buds and…
HOW TO IDENTIFY THEM The caterpillar of the white cedar moth (Leptocneria reducta) is about 4cm long and very hairy. They have a brown or black head and their body is mostly black with small brown or grey markings on them. They are often seen climbing the outside walls of the house, around the windows…
Well, this is confusing. Should we put slaters into the good bug or the bad bug section? They can be both! In the end we put them in with the Bad Bugs because sometimes you can have too much of a good thing. HOW TO IDENTIFY THEM Slaters look like tiny grey tanks, scurrying through…
HOW TO IDENTIFY THEM Portuguese millipedes (Ommatoiulus moreletii) have a smooth, cylindrical body made up of lots of tiny segments and range from grey to black in colour. They are between 2.5cm and 4cm long and are long and straight when they are walking but often curl up in a spiral when they are hiding…
HOW TO IDENTIFY THEM Scale are odd shaped blobs that live on the leaves, stem and branches of both outdoor plants as well as indoor plants. They can be brown, white, orange or black and are all different sizes between 2mm and 12mm across. They are quite interesting creatures because the part that you can see on…
HOW TO IDENTIFY THEM Caterpillars are the larvae of butterflies and moths. They can be brown, green and even orange but are often the same colour as the leaf that they are munching on. Some of them are quite hairy but all of them have short, stumpy legs which they use to hold onto leaves and stems. The…
HOW TO IDENTIFY THEM Whitefly are tiny white insects that are about 3mm long which hang out in large groups. They spend their time and lay their eggs under the leaves of vegetables and will take off like a white cloud over the vegetable patch if they are disturbed. THE DAMAGE THEY CAUSE Whitefly are sap…