Mites or...?

[acs1]

Anyone know what pests these are..? Looks like maybe a combination aphids and mites..?  What is a good way to get rid of them.?  Its not to bad as of now, only found a few leafs with these guys on them and removed the leafs. But don't want it to get out of control.
 
Thanks, luv the forum here....

 

[solid7]

Aphids.  In the bottom pic, the lifeless bloated one has been infected by a parasitic wasp, and is effectively, a "mummy".

 

[acs1]

Aphids.  In the bottom pic, the lifeless bloated one has been infected by a parasitic wasp, and is effectively, a "mummy".

 
Thanks for the reply. So its neem oil mix to the rescue. What is your exact preferred mix ratio..?
 
Ya, that bloated bugger threw me off. Seen hornworms with the wasp pods on their back, but never knew wasps did the same to aphids..? Interesting, thanks for explaining that... Curious, how does a wasp infect a minuscule tiny almost microscopic bug like an aphid..?
 
Don't see anymore aphids on the plants and I looked carefully, although suppose its easy to miss the little buggers. Should I do a preemptive strike with neem, or wait and see if it gets worse first before spraying...? How bad does an aphid infestation have to get before its more of a problem then just an annoyance..? As the plants seem fairly healthy otherwise, but then again I'm just a rookie at this and don't know much about this, but am learning.
 
Found 2 of these beetles on the same plant few weeks ago and picked them off. Guess that was a mistake, they were probably chowing down on aphids...
 

 

[solid7]

Ladybug nymphs.  Shouldn't bother them.  They're beneficial.
.
2Tbsp of Neem per gallon, emulsified with 1 Tbsp per gallon of soap (not detergent) like Dr Bronner's.  Emulsify that first in a small amount of warm water, and then gradually add to your sprayer. (pour it in as you're filling with water)

 

[Orekoc]

This pic looks like an aphid lion, or the larvae of a lady bug.  Both the larvae and the adult eat aphids.

 
Thanks for the reply. So its neem oil mix to the rescue. What is your exact preferred mix ratio..?
 
Ya, that bloated bugger threw me off. Seen hornworms with the wasp pods on their back, but never knew wasps did the same to aphids..? Interesting, thanks for explaining that... Curious, how does a wasp infect a minuscule tiny almost microscopic bug like an aphid..?
 
Don't see anymore aphids on the plants and I looked carefully, although suppose its easy to miss the little buggers. Should I do a preemptive strike with neem, or wait and see if it gets worse first before spraying...? How bad does an aphid infestation have to get before its more of a problem then just an annoyance..? As the plants seem fairly healthy otherwise, but then again I'm just a rookie at this and don't know much about this, but am learning.
 
Found 2 of these beetles on the same plant few weeks ago and picked them off. Guess that was a mistake, they were probably chowing down on aphids...
 

 

 

[Bicycle808]

It's a different different species of wasp that rocks Aphids, as compared to the ones that parasitize hornworms. As i recall, it was several stitches within the same genius, and you can actually buy them for like $100/vial to let loose and destroy Aphids in your garden. Tiny little wasps. Most non-gardening humans tend to think of esposa only in terms of the big ones that strong is, but I think that there's a myriad of different walls out there.

I'll find you the rad wasps-banging-Aphids video and post it.

 

[Bicycle808]

Didn't take long. https://youtu.be/rLtUk-W5Gpk

 

[acs1]

This pic looks like an aphid lion, or the larvae of a lady bug.  Both the larvae and the adult eat aphids.
 

 
Can aphid lions and lady bugs cure an aphid infestation...?
 

 

[acs1]

Didn't take long.

 
Thanks for posting that vid, I love those tiny wasps.... And I've seen them around my plants, didn't know what they were, figured they were harmless to my peppers.. Had no clue what they were doing.
 
Will spraying the plants kill the wasps or their larvae inside the aphids,?
 

 

[Bicycle808]

 
Can aphid lions and lady bugs cure an aphid infestation...?
 

Yeah pretty much. I really only stress about Aphids while in hardening off. The little Bastards get on the plants when I bring them outfits, and then when i bring them inside again, they proliferate like mad in the absence of predators. But once I'm planted-out, Aphids are probably always present, but they're never a problem bc the ladybugs, lacewings, spiders, wasps, etc just destroy them before they can do any real damage.

But hardening off is a byitch, mostly due to Aphids. I've never overwintered plants, but I understand that Aphids are a threat to plants being overwintered indoors.

 
Thanks for posting that vid, I love those tiny wasps.... And I've seen them around my plants, didn't know what they were, figured they were harmless to my peppers.. Had no clue what they were doing.
 
Will spraying the plants kill the wasps or their larvae inside the aphids,?
 

That video fills me with unbridled delight.

Depending on what you spray with, it MIGHT not--but it probably will. Neem will repel most insects and disrupt their reproductive activities. Any kind of insecticide will definitely eff those wasps up. As far as I know, bc they are both insects, most any chemical approach that harms Aphids will also have a negative impact on the wasps. There MIGHT BE an exception, but I don't know of any.

 

[solid7]

 
Can aphid lions and lady bugs cure an aphid infestation...?
 

 
Don't know where you're at in Florida, but over here in my neighborhood, it's not so much a matter of if they can, but if they will.  And the answer is usually no.  I don't know if it's because of availability of food source, but Florida aphids don't typically succumb completely to wasps and/or ladybugs.

 

[acs1]

 
Don't know where you're at in Florida, but over here in my neighborhood, it's not so much a matter of if they can, but if they will.  And the answer is usually no.  I don't know if it's because of availability of food source, but Florida aphids don't typically succumb completely to wasps and/or ladybugs.

 
A fellow Floridian,,, I'm In Broward, Parkland area.
 
Had more aphids today, those things are aggravating... But must have been a hundred wasp/aphid mummies on the few leafs i removed. Set the leafs down on the garden table hoping they will hatch into beautiful aphid wasps in my garden. Should I just leave the infested leafs on the plants..?

 

[solid7]

You can isolate them in a removed area.  Doesn't matter.  They're wasps.  They'll go where the food is.  They are really tiny, you can almost mistake them for a fungus gnat.

 

[solid7]

 
A fellow Floridian,,, I'm In Broward, Parkland area.

 
I fish all the time in that area.  Mostly Coral Springs and Tamarac, as far south as Sunrise. (occasionally Davie)

 

[acs1]

 
I fish all the time in that area.  Mostly Coral Springs and Tamarac, as far south as Sunrise. (occasionally Davie)

 
Lakes all over around here. A little lake is in my backyard. A while ago my son fished a bass out that was as long as my forearm. Peppers love the sun that reflects off the lake into my garden. Last winter, found a freshly dead bass on my shore line, chopped it up with the machete real fine and mixed in with my pepper soil... Don't know if it helped, but figured it couldn't hurt and hate to waste a big bass.
 
 I use to fish down Loxahatctee road right by me off 441. It goes to the everglades a few miles down. Lots of wildlife, gators, bobcats, yotes, etc, surprised they're still flourishing there. A cougar was caught/removed by FWC not far from my house last winter. Getting to be to many houses and airboats where there were none 10 years ago... Feel bad for all the wildlife. Down south here, we're building right up to the everglades, animals have no where to go.

 

 

[acs1]

Yeah pretty much. I really only stress about Aphids while in hardening off. The little Bastards get on the plants when I bring them outfits, and then when i bring them inside again, they proliferate like mad in the absence of predators. But once I'm planted-out, Aphids are probably always present, but they're never a problem bc the ladybugs, lacewings, spiders, wasps, etc just destroy them before they can do any real damage.

But hardening off is a byitch, mostly due to Aphids. I've never overwintered plants, but I understand that Aphids are a threat to plants being overwintered indoors.



That video fills me with unbridled delight.

Depending on what you spray with, it MIGHT not--but it probably will. Neem will repel most insects and disrupt their reproductive activities. Any kind of insecticide will definitely eff those wasps up. As far as I know, bc they are both insects, most any chemical approach that harms Aphids will also have a negative impact on the wasps. There MIGHT BE an exception, but I don't know of any.

Took your advice and did not spray the aphids, you're 100% correct. Seems I've now gotten a pride of Aphid lions patrolling my plants now. And from the looks of the few infested leafs underside, lots of wasp mummies also.
 
Been watching them, they quickly search from leaf to leaf, top to underside, all around the stems, everywhere they search out aphids, then devour them fast. In under a few minutes 1 lion can clear the underside of a infested leaf. And the lions are smart, they leave the mummies alone to hatch, just devouring the live moving aphids.
 
I agree with you B808, it seems like so far this season, in a healthy pepper garden that the gardener is not working against nature with more or less unneeded spraying,, threat level for aphids damage is low around my garden.
 
Don't remember what forum guru said it maybe it was you..?, but the advice of leave the plants alone till they insist on our help, they know whats best, is great advice.
 
Here is a pic of this fat ladybug patrolling my reaper. She just cleaned a whole leaf of aphids and seems to be looking for more.
 
jmo
 

 

[solid7]

You're lucky.  Mine don't ever seem to stay.  I had to start using Neem, because the good bugs always had somewhere else to be. LOL

 

[Bicycle808]

That's awesome that predators have taken care of those Aphids for you. I totally believe that there are situations where the Aphids could be reproducing at a rate where they're outrunning the predators, or maybe some folks just have gardens where there aren't sufficient numbers of predators, etc. And I know for sure that an Aphid infestation can be incredibly destructive in an indoor situation... But I suspect that most of us have enough invertebrate allies in our garden to eliminate the threat of Aphids without needing to spray, or even manually crush the Aphids.

That's always the best initial strategy, anyway.

And yes, I've been known to repeat the adage about how our Chile plants know best; it's wisest to leave them alone until the symptoms actually demand intervention. But that's really just conventional wisdom; a lot of folks on THP and elsewhere say the same shit, and i am far from the first. I'm just a relative rookie, who is stubborn and enthusiastic enough to seem like maybe I'm a lil advanced....
...but i promise you, I'm not.

And, for the record, I will always go to the mat with these garden pests in a purely physical confrontation. I'm loathe to use chemicals, but I will squish (by hand) many pests and their eggs when I see them in the garden. I've been known to go toe-to-toe with Stankbugs, caterpillars, earwigs...I have had some epic, elbow-dropping battles with tomato hornworms, which are my ultimate nemesis. I don't always take the laissez-faire approach, but I do try to minimize the unintended harm that comes from insecticides and such. I have used safer shit like neem oil to battle whiteflies and Aphids(indoors), and I once dumped a bunch of food-grade diatomaceous earth on a colony of Harlequin Stankbugs. I wouldn't hesitate to do something like that again, of it was clear that my plants needed me to...