bugs infesting my Emina fern
Dear Bugman,
I live in southern California and I noticed a bunch of these little bugs
on my emina fern, I was wondering if you could tell me what they are and
if they are harmful to my plants. They have a lot of little legs, the
antennae stick out of their back end, and they’re about the size of the
tilde sign on the keyboard.
Thanks,
Tom

Hi Tom,
You have Mealy Bugs which will infest many types of house plants. Check with a local nursery about the best way to get rid of them.

hi I am from mexico and I have faund many insects in my garden that I cant identify so if you can help me I will be thankfull.
Daniel Vasquez

Hi Daniel,
Did you attach photos? They did not arrive. Where in Mexico?

well first i¨am fome mexico city the capital y will send you the fotos now.

Hi again Daniel,
This image is of a species of Aphid, from the family Aphididae. They are pests that infest many types of plants. When numerous, they can be very injurious, especially to young tender shoots. They suck the juices from the plants and are also capable of tranmitting viruses to your plants.

Little static critters
Hello dear bugman.
I noticed these little things on the underside of my pompom viburnam tree’s leaves. What are they?? I have a postage-stamp sized garden in downtown Boston , a few trees and perennials and usually bugs are not a problem; we get bees mostly. Some ants. Although we have had slugs. We don’t even get mosqiotos! SO I didn’t think I had a real pest, but then I noticed them on the underside of my dead cosmos as well. No other plants seem affected. I think they are pests indeed. Humph! Any idea? They don’t move much, usually are lumped up together in clusters, they are slightly varied sizes, seem teardrop shaped, and they have a matte charcoal finish to them. Oh and as you can see, tiny red ants like to crawl all over them. I can’t get close enough to count the legs, they are sooo small! I would love a super, natural solution that works in a tiny backyard (lots of folks close around this garden, so I don’t want to be spraying bad things in the air) Any ideas on my mystery guests?
J Thank you so much! (love the site)

Dear J.,
You have Ant Cows, a common name for Aphids. Aphids are pests which suck the juices from plants and spread viruses, though not to people. Ants “farm” the aphids because of the sticky Honeydew they exude from their anuses. A mild spray of soapy water on a daily basis will help rid your postage stamp garden from this vile pestilence.

Wow, that is a little gross! Off I go to suds up then… Thanks Bugman!!

I’ve just found your website and I maybe you can help me with the identification of this particular tree- or leafhopper (picture attached). This photo is to be included in the Encyclopedia, and the editor needs the species name . If you know it, please send a message ASAP – I would be MOST GRATEFUL!!!
Best regards,
Wawrzyniec Podrzucki
P.S. Thepicture was taken in Pennsylvania.

Hi there Wawrzyniec Podrzucki,
I’m guessing Thelia bimaculata, a female. Here is a website with images.Good luck on getting in that encyclopedia. Your photograph is beautiful.
Treehoppers belong to the Family Membracidae. They are called Treehoppers because most of the species live on trees and low bushes, hopping vigorously when disturbed. All of the species suck plant juices. Many of the young secrete honeydew like aphids. Great thanks for answering so promptly. In the meantime I’ve also run the picture through yet another entomological site, and it seems that you are
correct. And you are wellcome to my website for a little more of good quality insect photos.
Thanks again,
Wawrzyniec Podrzucki

Update (01/06/2006)
Here is an excerpt from a letter by Julieta Brambila:
” I printed two images for Mark Rothschild, expert in Membracidae, and he gave me this information: Campylenchia latipes (SAy) is the identification for the message from 10/17/2003, from Wawrzyniec Podrzucki, of a membracid from Pennsylvannia. This image is filed in the section of What’s that bug: aphids, scale insects, leafhoppers, and tree hoppers.”

have an infestation of bugs on my willow tree. They are dark gray with black spots and shaped kind of like a light bulb. The narrow part at the head. The back legs are longer than the front and they have little antennae. There are thousands clustered together. Can you tell me what they are and how to treat them?
Kim Kincaid
Aloha, OR

Hi Kim,
Sorry about the delay. I believe you have Giant Willow Aphids, Pterochlorus viminalis. This is a large species, reaching about 1/4 inch. It is gray with black spots, short black horns on the abdomen and a large tubercle in the middle of the abdomen. It feeds in large, compact colonies on the trunks and branches of willows often near the ground, and when disturbed has the habit of kicking the hind legs back and forth above the abdomen in a very energetic manner. This habit is common to all the individuals of a colony and is probably a means of warding off natural enemies according to Essig. Try your local nursery for a treatment. Here is a site with great information and photos.

More about the aphids:
Many of you read with disgust the following account about the aphids found in a sandwich purchased from Wild Oats on Sunday. On Monday, we called the offending store and spoke to the manager, who apologized for the infestation and promised to look into the matter. Sharon and I returned to the rocky waters and ordered a couple of new sandwiches, which we got sans lettuce. And we were happy to meet Bobby, the deli counter guy who is a self-described "lettuce nazi." I hope he’s also an "aphid nazi."

April 15, 2002

I didn’t write "What’s That Bug?," because when I discovered this critter, "What’s That Bug?" was sitting right next to me.
For those of you who didn’t hear my piercing screams last night (which carried for miles), the picture above shows the extra protein which was included in a turkey sandwich which I’d purchased from Wild Oats in Pasadena last night. The hitchhiker was immediately identified as an aphid. Also included within the two whole wheat slices was a deader version of this critter, which is what prompted a more thorough investigation of the meal in the first place.
Buff Charlie, who eats both lunch and dinner daily at this fine natural grocery store, strode powerfully to the store and got to the bottom of the infestation. He chastised the staff, and forced them to remove all lettuce from the deli section. "It’s a good idea to always look at your food before eating it," a friendly employee advised him.
That’s good advice, especially when munching on produce. Here in the AH backyard, our lettuce is home to all manner of hungry beasts. Rhonda is always out smushing slugs and grasshoppers. But once our garden produce enters the home, we are no longer playing games with the pests. They are removed, completely. None are pardoned.
I can only wonder why Wild Oats doesn’t share this philosophy of cleanliness and death. Is this what "organic" means these days?

Thanks, Daniel, for grossing me out even more! Buggy anal sugar! EWWW! This unsolicitated letter was received this morning:

Dear American Homebody,
Though no official question has been posed, I thought it was my duty to inform you of some aphid facts since your very recent experience with tainted lettuce on a store bought, organic sandwich. No one knows better than Hogue, who writes "Aphids (Family Aphidae) Aphids are notorious pests of cultivated plants. Prolific breeders, they swiftly spread over the tender growing tips of prize roses and other plants, from which they withdraw large quantities of sap. The result is a wilted, curled, and unsightly mass of leaves or a dead plant. The aphid’s harm is increased by its habit of copiously excreting from the anus a sugary solution called ‘honeydew,’ which covers the host plant with a sticky unsightly residue that often becomes blackened with a growth of sooty mold. Aphids also transmit viral diseases to plants. … Aphids are remarkable for their peculiar modes of reproduction and development, which involve polymorphism (the capability of assuming different body forms). They display life cycles so complicated and varied that they are impossible to summarize here. Parthenogenesis (the development of unfertilized eggs), viviparity (the bearing of live young), and winged and wingless generations are common reproductive phenomena."
One can only guess that the designer store in question found it too costly to clean their organic lettuce in Evian, so they neglected to do so at all to keep the harmful tap water chemicals from their chemical free produce.