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Produce => Pests & Diseases => Topic started by: queenbee on August 22, 2011, 22:49:44

Title: Insects etc.
Post by: queenbee on August 22, 2011, 22:49:44
I have just discovered some vine weevils in my begonias, I love insects normally and if I find one that I can not identify I get my book out and look it up, however there are two creatures in my garden that I hate, the vineweevil and the slug. This week I found a vine weevil in my greenhouse and I lashed at it with my trowel. Twenty  minutes later I saw half of it walking across my staging. It was the back end of the creature and it was like a horror movie. How could it still move about with no head. They say they are hard to eradicate but this unbelievable. What are your insect nightmares?
Title: Re: Insects etc.
Post by: Alex133 on August 23, 2011, 07:25:00
Wood/house spiders, those great monstrous things that appear from nowhere and frighten me out of my wits.....and it's nearly time for the autumn plague of them!
Title: Re: Insects etc.
Post by: shirlton on August 23, 2011, 07:51:07
We had the lily beetle for the first time this year.Talk about persistant.I must have gone over the plants abot 6 times and there were still some larvae there.
Title: Re: Insects etc.
Post by: Duke Ellington on August 23, 2011, 08:07:31
Alex
The spider season has started in our house. I think they are getting bigger! :o One as big as a horse charged across our lounge floor last night! :o

Duke
Title: Re: Insects etc.
Post by: Alex133 on August 23, 2011, 18:38:18
Every year I swear I'm going to be adult about them, then dissolve into a squealing prat on first sighting! Totally useless.
Title: Re: Insects etc.
Post by: Aden Roller on August 23, 2011, 19:35:52
It has to be white butterflies.  >:(

I hate the results once they've laid eggs on my brassicas!
Title: Re: Insects etc.
Post by: boydzfish on August 23, 2011, 21:55:50
Didn't I read that cockroaches can live for an hour without a head!! Not a great fan of earwigs but apparently they are the best Mums in the insect world. Last year I set up a home made bug house to attract miner (mason) bees but nothing took residence - I think I will move it to a sunnier position for next year. I have noticed a big drop in the number of ladybirds this year too, well on my patch anyway.
Title: Re: Insects etc.
Post by: lottie lou on August 23, 2011, 22:27:31
Quote from: Duke Ellington on August 23, 2011, 08:07:31
Alex
The spider season has started in our house. I think they are getting bigger! :o One as big as a horse charged across our lounge floor last night! :o

Duke

At least you won't have flies
Title: Re: Insects etc.
Post by: triffid on August 23, 2011, 22:45:25
Quote from: Duke Ellington on August 23, 2011, 08:07:31
Alex
The spider season has started in our house. I think they are getting bigger! :o One as big as a horse charged across our lounge floor last night! :o

Duke

Had to chuckle...
I was just reading your post, Duke, when a pattering noise made me look round .  It's the big sister of your shire-horse spider, actually audible on the lino floor in our kitchen. She's made a beeline for a pair of OH's socks lying under the table in a radioactive heap and is now crouched possessively on top of them .  I'm just waiting to see if she hauls one away to her lair.  ;)

I'd rather have house spiders than our other kitchen-floor trespassers...   
AAAUUUGGHH! Me, barefoot, 6am yesterday morning, still half-asleep and seeking early-morning cuppa when...
Squish. Grey-brown slug now glooped under sole of foot. :-X

Spent the next 30 mins wailing and repeatedly scrubbing slimed foot like some bizaare version of Lady Macbeth. Toes cringing even now at the thought.  :o
Title: Re: Insects etc.
Post by: Aden Roller on August 23, 2011, 23:04:30
Squashed slug! Lovely... yuck!!!

That reminds me of the pair of open toed sandals I had as a child of 7 or 8. Belting through long grass brought my first experience of what it's like to walk on squashed slug. Unforgettable. 

One large orange one had found its way between my foot and the sandal :o It is an amazing sensation that I would not recommend.