flowers, vegetables, & lawn bugs
Slugs
Slugs are slimy gray creatures that chew holes in the leaves of many plants. They need cool temperatures and moisture to survive, so are much more common in rainy weather and places that stay too wet because of poor drainage.
Keep the soil free of any mulch and dead plant material, and water in the morning, to allow the soil to dry before nightfall, as they cannot move easily over dry soil. They cannot move across sand or diatomaceous earth, so a band of either will keep them away from particular plants. If slug bait is used, be sure it is covered well to prevent dogs and cats from eating it. Do not use near edible plants.
Ants
Ants do not eat or kill plants, although their tunneling may disturb roots. Their mounds make grass unattractive and hard to mow. They are neither harmful nor beneficial to peonies.
Chemical control is available but some can be harmful to plants and some cannot be used near food plants. Read the label carefully before use.
Root Maggots
Root maggots chew tunnels in onions, turnips, radishes, cabbage, etc. They are the larvae of grayish flies. Damaged plants are less healthy and tunnels in the roots of edible plants make them unsuitable for food. Small plants may wilt and die.
Floating row covers (spun fabric covering plants) can prevent the flies from laying eggs in the soil and eliminate damage if no affected vegetables have been grown in the area for at least a year. Soil dusts are also available.
Raspberry Currant Worms
Raspberry currant worms are small green caterpillars with black heads and many black spots. They eat the foliage very quickly, often stripping the plant.
Dusts and sprays suitable for use on fruit can eliminate them on contact.
Tomato Hornworms
Tomato hornworms are huge green caterpillars with 'horns' on their rear ends and many small feet. They become beautiful sphynx moths.
Tomato horn worms do no particular harm, and can be safely ignored in a garden. Watch for the moths that come later!
Delphinium Caterpillars
Delphinium caterpillars are small green caterpillars that eat new growth on young delphinium plants. They are the same color as the leaves and not always easy to see.
If you allow the plants to grow to a height of about 18 inches, then cut them back to about 6", the insects will not infect new growth, as there is only one generation. The plants will take a little longer to bloom but will be free of the caterpillars. Alternatively, insecticide dust can be applied to new growth every few days from the time rosettes of leaves have formed until they reach a height of about 18'.
Cutworms
Cutworms are large caterpillars which curl up in ball when disturbed. They live in the soil and emerge at night. They chew plants off at ground level, and some can also climb plants. Adults are white moths.
Use physical barriers such as milk cartons or tin cans around susceptible plants. Dusts are available to put in soil, but not do not use near edible plants.
Sod Webworm
Sod webworm is a short, thick gray caterpillar with a burgundy colored head. It lives beneath the soil and chews off roots of lawns. Irregular brown patches in the lawn signal possible damage. If you try to pull up the grass by the roots and it comes up easily, with few roots, sod webworm may be the culprit. Small light-colored moths flying close to the ground when the lawn is being mowed also indicate their presence.
An insecticide in a liquid or powder form appropriate for lawns will control sod webworms.
Sod Webworm
Sod webworm is a short, thick gray caterpillar with a burgundy colored head. It lives beneath the soil and chews off roots of lawns. Irregular brown patches in the lawn signal possible damage. If you try to pull up the grass by the roots and it comes up easily, with few roots, sod webworm may be the culprit. Small light-colored moths flying close to the ground when the lawn is being mowed also indicate their presence.
An insecticide in a liquid or powder form appropriate for lawns will control sod webworms.
Flea Beetles
Flea beetles are small black beetles that jump like fleas when disturbed. They chew tiny round holes in leaves of vegetables. If a large proportion of the leaf surface is gone, it can weaken small plants. Larvae feed on plant roots.
Insecticides suitable for food crops may be used to control them.
Larder Beetles
Larder beetles are fuzzy dark brown and have a pale yellow band, with dark spots on it, across their backs. They feed on materials containing protein, such as dead insects, but they also eat cereals, dry pet food and rice as well.
Larder beetles can be controlled by keeping possible food sources in sealed plastic or metal containers. Sprays for controlling household insects can be sprayed around baseboards.
Tuber Flea Beetles
Tuber flea beetles resemble flea beetles and cause similar damage. They feed on potato tubers, causing shallow tunnels that make the potatoes inedible.
Tuber flea beetles overwinter in garden residue on the soil. Keeping the area free of hiding places will reduce their numbers. Do not plant potatoes in the same area for several years.
Colorado Potato Beetles
Colorado potato beetles and their larvae eat the leaves of potato plants. The beetles are hard-shelled with yellow and black stripes running lengthwise. Orange/yellow eggs are laid underside of leaves. The larvae are red, armadillo-like creatures that eat voraciously.
Dusts and sprays are available that are safe on edible plants. They can also be picked off plants by hand.
Strawberry Root Weevils
Strawberry root weevils look like slender black beetles with long snouts. The larvae cause the most problems, feeding on roots and crowns, causing stunted leaves.
Dusts or sprays suitable for use on food can be used for control.
Leaf Cutter Bees
Leaf cutter bees cut perfect circles from rose leaves to use in their nests. They cause no harm and can be safely ignored.
Leaf cutter bees cause no harm unless the plants are being raised for show. There is no chemical control.
Carpenter Ants
Carpenter ants excavate their nests in wood, usually stumps, fallen logs or diseased trees. They enter through cracks or scars, and do not destroy healthy wood, so damage usually consists of weakening already decaying trees.
Carpenter ants cause no damage to healthy trees. They create nests in the wood of decaying trees.
Caddis Flies
Caddis flies are a nuisance in the summer in areas bordering the Bow River. Larvae live under water, and the emerging adults swarm at dusk for about two weeks. They cause no harm to people or plants, and are a food source for fish and birds.
Caddis flies cause no harm to plants or people but they are a real nuisance. There is no registered insecticide for either the flies or for use near the river. Using yellow outdoor light bulbs stops them from swarming near homes, as they are not attracted to yellow lights.