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| Author |
Message |
mcpoz
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Bugs
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Jun 3 00:50 UTC 1996 |
Today, I saw some bugs which I never have seen before. One was a wolf spider
which was jet black with metallic green (like a japanese beetle) eyes and
fangs. It was living in a pipe stuck in the ground. When I approached it
on a path, it moved back into the pipe. I backed off about 15 ft and watched
it with 10x binoculars and it slowly crept out to the top of the pipe edge.
It was beautiful. If it is still there next weekend, I'll get a picture.
The second was a ladybird beetle with a jet black back and a medium sized red
dot on each wing.
Both of these were seen on a path in a bog behind our house.
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| 17 responses total. |
rcurl
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response 1 of 17:
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Jun 3 04:34 UTC 1996 |
I can't recall seeing a black ladybird with red dots - though my book
mentions that variety.
Is there anywhere around where one can buy a pint, or pound, of ladybirds?
Our locust in the front of the house gets infested with a leaf beetle.
Last year they nearly defoliated it in the spring, but it releafed and
seemed undamaged afterward. I bought poison to spray, but can't bring
myself to do it. I'd like to try ladybirds.
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mcpoz
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response 2 of 17:
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Jun 4 00:46 UTC 1996 |
My wife has several catalogs which sell ladybirds. If you would like a
contact, let me know and I'll send it to you.
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rcurl
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response 3 of 17:
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Jun 4 03:20 UTC 1996 |
Yes please - a contact. Are they are the web? (Bugs, you know... ;-})
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mcpoz
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response 4 of 17:
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Jun 4 23:45 UTC 1996 |
WORM'S WAY - GARDEN SUPPLY & HOME BREW CENTER
#800-274-9676
- Organic fertilizers - Peruvian seabird guano
- Beneficial Insects - Shepherd's Seeds
- Compost Supplies - Hand Tools
- Bat Guano - Books
- Worm Castings - Garden Gifts
- Natural Pest Controls - and MUCH More.
Rane, try this - We have some ads which directly say "Ladybird Beetles"
but couldn't locate them. If we find them, I will post again.
ps: dont drink the home brew
pps: If you find out what a Shepherd's seed is let me know
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rcurl
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response 5 of 17:
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Jun 5 06:52 UTC 1996 |
Thanks! I will give them a call.
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rcurl
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response 6 of 17:
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Jun 5 22:12 UTC 1996 |
Marc found another site for me - Arizona Biological Control (ARBISCO)
at
http://www.usit.net/hp/bionet/agcat.html
ABISCO sells landbugs/beetles as follows:
BG1125 1/4 pt (650 sq. ft; 2,300 ladybugs) (1#) $7.60
BG1124 1/2 pt (2,500 sq. ft; 4,500 ladybugs) (1#) $8.75
BG1123 1 pt (5,000 sq. ft; 9,000 ladybugs) (1#) $14.00
BG1122 1 qt. (15,000 sq. ft; 18,000 ladybugs) (2#) $25.55
BG1121 1/2 gal. (5 acres; 36,000 ladybugs) (2#) $32.60
BG1120 1 gal. (10-20 acres; 72,000 ladybugs) (3#) $64.00
BG1126 1/2 pt. every 2 wks for 3 shipments (1# each) $8.20
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n8nxf
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response 7 of 17:
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Jun 6 13:59 UTC 1996 |
BG1126 is the best deal: 1 1/2 pt. total for $8.20 It also seems you
need more ladybugs / sq. ft. with fewer sq. ft.
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rcurl
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response 8 of 17:
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Jun 6 21:04 UTC 1996 |
Hmmm...I bet that is $8.20 *each shipment*.
Interesting observation on the bug density vs. area. Here is a hypothesis
to explain it:
The bugs are mobile, so they will diffuse off the target area. This is
much more rapid for a small area than a large area, so one must have a
higher initial density on a small area to have the same average resident
density, over some period of time. The latter brings in the reproductive
cycle of the ladybugs, as they also tend to *increase* their density.
There should be a steady state, but with a much smaller density on a small
area than on a large one (food supply willing). Probably someone has done
a PhD dissertation on this....
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mcpoz
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response 9 of 17:
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Jun 6 22:51 UTC 1996 |
titled: Dissertation on the random bugonian movement of Adalia bipunctata
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rcurl
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response 10 of 17:
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Jun 7 07:27 UTC 1996 |
There are a lot of beneficial insects available from ARBICO: besides
ladybugs, they supply: "Beneficial generalists" (green lacewings, praying
mantids, spined soldier bugs, minute pirate bug and trichogramma (a wasp);
"beneficial specialists" (mostly wasps predatory on single pest species);
"beneficial mites"; and "beneficial organisms" (e.g., fungi).
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katie
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response 11 of 17:
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Jun 9 01:49 UTC 1996 |
Every year I have a colony of hundreds of ladybirds at the side of my
house, under a small log, under my mulberry tree.
Yesterday there was a spider in my office, which played dead when I picked
it up and then started crawling again a few minutes later. It had turned
itself upside down, with legs curled up. I didn't know a spider could
plat possum.
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n8nxf
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response 12 of 17:
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Jun 10 11:52 UTC 1996 |
Most spiders will play dead. One type, that resides in my basement, will
shake so fast as to "disappear" in the blur of its motion.
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mcpoz
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response 13 of 17:
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Jun 15 01:55 UTC 1996 |
We saw the most interesting moth or butterfly tonight. It's body was about
3/4" long and it was black with two thin bright yellow strips around its back
end. It had a black proboscus which stuck straight out from its head about
3/8". It's wings were beating so fast that you could not see them.
This insect had all of the maneuvers of a hummingbird. It could roll, back
up, take off like a shot, etc. It would react instantly if we moved while
near it. It obviously was feeding on the flowers' nectar and in that respect
it also resembled a hummingbird - moving in and out of the flower (dwarf
lilacs) while remaining in flight.
I have seen moths similar to this in Florida, and were told they were
hummingbird moths. The Florida ones did not have the yellow stripes. I have
an insect identification booklet, but nothing like this is listed.
Anyone ever see such a moth or butterfly?
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md
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response 14 of 17:
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Jun 15 13:17 UTC 1996 |
Hawk moth or sphinx moth, a member of the Sphingidae family of
moths. Many of them are day-fliers, some come out at dusk.
Sounds like you might've seem a moth called Abbott's Sphinx,
Sphecodina abbotti. Just a guess.
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katie
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response 15 of 17:
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Jun 16 21:24 UTC 1996 |
Yes, I've had hawk moths at my house. Don't remember any yellow on them,
tho.
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robh
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response 16 of 17:
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Jun 20 16:53 UTC 1996 |
This item has been linked from Nature 61 to Intro 64.
Type "join nature" at the Ok: prompt for discussion of
little crawly things, and other aspects of nature.
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mfobrien
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response 17 of 17:
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Jun 1 02:39 UTC 1998 |
The insect you described (3/4" long) sounds more like a large beefly
(Diptera: Bombyliidae) than a moth - hummingbird and bumblebee sphinx
moths are larger than that, and the behavior sounds more like a bee
fly. As an entomologist for over 25 years, that fits the things that
I have seen.
If anyone is interested in learning about dragonflies & damselflies,
check out one of my web sites: http://insects.ummz.lsa.umich.edu/
michodo/mos.html
Cheers
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