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| I lived in Iowa for a while, and the hoppers there were as big as hood ornaments. If you were driving with your hand out the window, one of those could smack you at 60 mph and feel like a drill going into your palm. Here in SoCal, I'm starting to see local species on my roses (they especially seem to like the DAs). Two kinds : little green ones, about the size of a thumb joint, and nasty menacing brown things 3-4" long. I suspect they are chewing my leaves and/or laying eggs on them -- I found some tiny black spots that looked like poppy seeds on the leaves today after I chased off the hoppers. I just rolled them off with my finger; they weren't sticky. I spray with Captain Jack's, but not too often. If there's an excess of mildew, i.e. in the spring, or if the buds are getting eaten, I'll spray, but I don't like to do it more than once a month or so. Should I revise this regimen? Entomologists may find them fascinating, but grasshoppers give me the creeps. In the past few years we saw quite a few praying mantii in our yard, but none this year (drought?). I think they might eat grasshoppers, at least the little kind, but they're not here. Same with lizards -- they are very thin on the ground in the Valley this summer. Thanks, Sylvia |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| Grasshoppers love my David Austin Alnwick, but then, I don't use any pest control other than an occasional spraying off with water. Oh well -- everybody's got to eat. jannike |
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- Posted by Kippy-the-Hippy 10 Sunset 24 (My Page) on Sun, Aug 17, 14 at 11:09
| I found a really interesting egg sack on Madame Berkeley last year. I did some searching and sure enough it was a Katydid egg sack. They do eat some leaves and sure like the buds. When the hens are on patrol the bug count gets pretty low, but ours are limited in free range space right now so I bet I have a few extra hoppers next season. |
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| We do have grasshoppers, but we have more Katydids. You'll find many immature ones right now. I have photos of the bugs, egg sacks and their damage on my blog, linked below. Kim |
Here is a link that might be useful: Bugs
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- Posted by meredith_e 7B Piedmont NC (My Page) on Sun, Aug 17, 14 at 21:41
| I have preying mantises naturally, but you could certainly try ordering some! They do help. The worst time of year is when some grasshoppers have grown larger than the preying mantises, but by this time of year the predators are big. Also, toads like them. Unfortunately, my toads like the shadier, moister areas and my biggest grasshopper problems are in drier areas. Little garden snakes eat them, too. I have a lot of violets as groundcover near my roses, and those have garter snakes, whereas near my tall boxwood rose gardens, I have little green snakes that climb most of the day. You can try to encourage both little snakes and toads to gardens, although folks don't always like working where snakes are. The garden ones are nice, so unless it's a phobia, please consider it :) My first 'fall' spiders are starting to do their work now. OK, those creep me out a bit because I always run into their webs (and the spider comes with it, often)! Still, they eat a lot of grasshoppers! There is a bait that poisons (diseases?) them, but I don't know how it would affect my ecosystem here. They are a huge food source for lots of things I like, but they are bad on the roses in peaks during the season. My bad time is usually right by JB season anyway, so I just don't count on roses those several weeks, honestly. Nobody likes hanging outside long then anyway, here :D |
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| I haven't seen many of either kind this year, but the only way I control them is by killing them. The little ones I squash and the big ones I do away with any way I can. I actually hunt them down, following them from one plant to another until I catch them. No poisons, ever; I'm in my garden often enough to catch most of them. This year has been grim for the wildlife. Hawks, rabbits, toads, lizards, snakes, snails, mice, rats - all are conspicuous by their absence or near-absence. Very few coyotes also - the web of life has become so very fragile here. It's an eerie feeling. Ingrid |
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| Hmm I always see them on my roses and assumed they were eating bad bugs ! Did not know they were bad . I also hate I spray for insects ... We have toads , 1 snake that I wish I didn't know of , spiders and all sorts of country critters so I don't want to mess with their environment . Something has been munching holes in my buds tho . Guess I'll hose them off next time ! |
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- Posted by meredith_e 7B Piedmont NC (My Page) on Wed, Aug 20, 14 at 2:11
| A hose won't do much, because they come back. If you just smoosh them until they die, I bet a lot of things could still eat them. Leave the remains around, imho. For the big spiders, throw them into the web! It's actually great fun to watch :) If anyone poisons them, don't leave the bodies around if you can help it, imho. I don't know how that would go for whatever eats the poisoned bodies. |
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| So the green ones are katydids and the brown grasshoppers - ? I hate the way they seem to be grinning at me just before I end their miserable lives ... and they camouflage so well, too. I've put up a birdbath and am hoping the winged ones will find the hoppers to be tasty snacks. And where are the preying mantii of yesteryear? Thanks all, Sylvia |
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- Posted by poorbutroserich Nashville 7a (My Page) on Wed, Aug 20, 14 at 20:32
| I ordered quite a few praying mantis pods this spring and they hatched. It was crazy….tons of them. I still have grasshoppers. Hate them. Have lots of birds too…but they'd rather eat the sunflower seed. If I have time I go on grasshopper patrol. Usually rattling the foliage will disturb them and they'll jump. Sometimes I see where they land, sometimes I don't. Susan |
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| the little grasshoppers can be green. the tiny katydids are not. And they have these really long curved antennae. If you go out early morning they don't move very fast and you can cut them in half with secateurs, or squish. if you go out at night with a flashlight about an hour after sunset the mature katydids are eating away on the roses and you can cut them in half with secateurs. They don't move that fast at night, either. |
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