Saturday, June 29, 2013

Harlequin Bugs :: Return of The Enemy

Harlequin bugs are awful. Horrible. Abominable. Hideous. Despicable. Nasty.

Let's not mince words, or tread lightly. I am unapologetic in my disdain and loathing of these invaders. They are vampires, sucking away at the tender sprouts, and even heartier shrubs in our garden. Farewell, poor, dear blueberry bushes.

Once they have eaten of the cruciferous family, the Murgantia histrionica acquires a nasty taste. I cannot convince the chickens to partake of them. They don't drown. They don't sit still... they can fly! I've crushed hundreds. Geoff vacuumed thousands. The ground is crawling with them. Sorry. Are you creeped out, yet? Yeesh, I am fed up with them!

The damage they do is extensive and thorough. Blarggh! My poor sunflower sprouts!

This calls for extreme measures... not synthetic pesticides, but something we hope is safely effective: Safer Brand Insecticidal Soap and Concentrated Pyrethrin Insect Killer. It breaks down, and is considered a product that can be used in an organic garden. I am not endorsing them, yet, but we are hopeful. Geoff did a lot of research on this, and now it's on order, we just have to wait and see. I'll keep you posted. Mostly, I hope you never have to do battle with the enemy.

4 comments:

Rachy said...

Ewwwww! Good luck, I hope you manage to smoosh them all to smithereens! x

Miriam said...

Yuck...

Kate said...

They drown if you put a little soap in the water! It breaks the surface tension. I use a handheld vacuum to suck them up and dump the buggers into the soapy water. Works like a charm!

CJ said...

Yuck. I know how frustrating it is to be swamped with pests when you have put so much effort into your garden. I hope you manage to wipe them out soon.