Just thought i would post pics of one of the millions of bugs that seem to have affected us here in the Uk this year, as previously commented on by myself we had the most mildest of winters on record which in turn made everything burst out much earlier than expected and of course everything is dropping much sooner. With this warm start to the year i have seen no end of different bugs some which seem very prevalent, this little green sucker been one of them!!! Actually caught this one on my Red Dragon this morning and just happened to have my camera with me. Looked him up and it's the Green shield bug.The females lay dense clusters of eggs on the underside of leaves, and these in turn hatch into wingless nymphs then both the adults and nympths procede to suck the plant sap i can vouch for this!!! Don't really like using pesticides on my Acers but if we have the same mild winter again i think i will be having a re-think, any one know of a good brand to use?
Shield bugs have always been quite prevalent in my garden but to be honest they're no problem at all.If I see clutches of eggs I'll remove them but have no reason to think these bugs do much damage.On a bright note I've noticed a lot of ladybirds this week,they'll help keep the critters no.s down. I've only used hand held insecticides to treat individual plants if really needed.Provado is probably the best known and kills just about everything.I've found all the Bayer products safe to use on maples,wether leafiing out,budding or new grafts contrary to popular belief that maples are easily damaged.
+1 lots of shield bugs here, haven't noticed any particular damage from them. But I expect leaves to get a little ratty beyond high summer too... ;) -E
Thanks Houzi will look into the Provado for next year or something of similar affectiveness,lets hope for a better winter (not frost wise) next year which will curtail their presence hopefully.
Though I get shield bugs and recently scale,snails are the biggest threat to my young'uns.Well it's nematode time today,I do get weevils too but this is such an easy way to treat them...Maf put me onto the idea last year :)
