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pests Name this bug

TheFanMan

TheFanMan

Hi guys,

im looking for some info for this type of bug i have found in my garden. they are usually just under 1/4 " long and look like the guy in this pic.
DSCN1179.JPG


quite often when you see then they are walking around with 2 of these guys joined together tail to tail.
i saw a few of these guys wandering round my garden a month or so ago, today i just went out to my garden and all my peppers are covered with hundreds of babies so im slightly worried. iv got a couple of questions,

1, firstly what are they?
2, more importantly, do they eat peppers?

now im really now sure how wide spread these guys are but my place is in South West Vic, Australia.
 
EDIT I PUT WRONG BUG DIDNT LOOK TO SEE WHERE YOU WERE LO


It is the harlequin bug The Harlequin bug is a minor agricultural and garden pest which attacks a wide range of crop and ornamental plants, such as cotton, pome fruits, stone fruits, fig, grape, kurrajong, strawberry, vegetables, wisteria, dahlia and violet. When they are present in large numbers their feeding makes growing tips wilt or spoils fruit. Sometimes the bugs swarm on tree stumps and fences, and they may come into sheds and houses in large numbers. They are sometimes referred to as 'Stink Beetles' due to the odour they give of when disturbed.
Harlequin_Bug.jpg
 
that looks like them, well since i started this thread the population of them has exploded and i have found out some more info about them first hand. They DO eat peppers, although they seem to LOVE tomatoes. now i have to work out how to get rid of them as they seem to be really damaging my tomato plants and fruit :( .
 
Sounds like you got things handled, good luck.

As for naming him, I'm thinking Bill. He really looks like a Bill. Oh and that stuck back to back thing you're seeing, dude give'em some privacy.
 
They never really bothered my pepper plants last year, but the stinkbugs love tomatoes... pretty much ruined the crop for a good portion of the summer. I ended up picking the tomatoes early and letting them ripen off the vine, which was a better alternative than being left with white, hard tasteless lumps, which is what happens when the stinkbugs get to them.
 
If you can get pyrethrin that should knock them right down if you make sure you drench the soil and under the leaves. It's an extract from English daisies and oxidizes into non-lethal components in a day or two. It doesn't leave nasty residues you wouldn't want to eat later. I've found tobacco tea works well too. The drawback to the two is that they also kill beneficial insects. Very non-specific.
 
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