Tuesday

February 21, 2017

Tiny pests.

From time to time we get bugs in the lucerne. At the moment we have the odd Bluegreen Aphid & Heliothis grub. The aphids are very tiny at only 3mm long and are hard to spot with the naked eye; the grubs are a little bigger growing to about 30mm long.

Rather than spraying pesticides we much prefer to rely on beneficials & natural predators. Mowing the paddock every 28 days also helps; the birds have a field day when we mow a paddock as the insects are easy pickings.

5 comments:

  1. They weren't this caterpillar, more grey, but I remember our west Gippsland farm being overrun with caterpillars, like a dozen per square foot. It was only one year and we could not walk anywhere without squishing them.

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  2. Feast time for the birds - good one :D)

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  3. hope they are not threat anymore for your crops dear.

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  4. I hope they don't become too much of a pest.

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  5. It's hard for me to get mad at them--- but then I don't depend on what I grow for a living. Wonderful picture!

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