what if we love bees, snakes, spiders and bugs?

[HiDelight]

this is a spin off of this thread
http://www.theeasygarden.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=26684

Injun Joe also sparked me by with him bringing this up in another thread as well ...many gardeners really like bugs and spiders and snakes and want to encourage the good ones ..but since I have no clue what is good and not so good can we have a thread where people show bugs? talk about them in a good light? or share info as to why we should or should not encourage them to flourish in our gardens....

like what the heck is this anyway? will it be a beautiful butterfly or a moth or what? it resides on my hollyhocks and dose not really do any damage that I can see...it is so pretty! seems to like my pink ones best there were about 4 that I saw

anyone know what this is and if it is a good thing or a bad thing?

I did not put this in "pests" because I was hoping we could aim this discussion towards the good in bugs, snakes, bees and spiders

looking forward to reading about these things
thank you in advance

these guys love my hollyhocks and I can not

 

[vfem]

I do not know what it is, but I do have the exact same thing on my bean vines! I usually pick them off, give them to my daughter and she gives them to the chickens.

However, I have learned to leave the black snakes alone by the pond, they are not posionious and apparently they kill copper heads which are dangerous... so the black snakes get to stay.

We had some really destructive red/black and white beetles in the garden this summer.... once I planted radish they all went over to those and never touched another plant. totally destroyed the radish, minus the seed pods which was great because I only planted them to lure away the bad bugs and get me some fresh seeds for fall planting.

I know there is a wonderful site somewhere with a list of helpful insects and plants for your veggie gardens, I just gotta remember where it was and how I found it... it appears I totally missed bookmarking it... and I bookmark EVERYTHING!!!!

 

[Broke Down Ranch]

If your little caterpillar looks like the following pic, then it's a yellow woolly bear caterpillar which turns into a moth. I have found 2 basic colors for this species of caterpillar, all yellow or brown and yellow

http://www.whitman.edu/environmental_studies/JWC/griffin.htm#ywbm

 

[injunjoe]

That is a great idea a good bug/ bad bug thread.

I like the looks of that critter you posted. I have no idea what it is. But I can think of one person that will find out!

 

[HiDelight]

ironically my husband posted in his blog today about spiders

I love spiders (mind you just like snakes... they can scare the crap out of me but I still love them!) and I love this post he made ..please enjoy

http://birdmandea.blogspot.com/

this was amazing to me and all over the yard this morning there was a spider love fest!



WARNING

IF YOU ARE CREEPED OUT BY EITHER SPIDERS OR ARACHNOIDSEX OR BOTH DO NOT VENTURE ON TO HIS BLOG IT IS ALL NATURAL GOINS ON THERE

 

[digitS']

I've been wondering lately if ALL bees are a gardener's friends. Pollinators, etc.

I realize that yellow jackets are a dangerous lot but they eat aphids and other pests. Probably, they eat them by the bushel . . .

Other wasps, snatch caterpillars and lay eggs . . . well, they are a rather nasty lot, aren't they?

But still, it seems best for me to try to "fit in" to the natural world even if I'm a firm believer in Guarding My Garden!

Steve

 

[wifezilla]

Found this hanging out in my grape vine.

 

[HiDelight]

YIKES! impressive I bet it eats tons of grape eating bugs!

I wonder why they have to be so creepy looking ...

I just finished in the garden from one too many attacking me out there in the wilds

 

[HiDelight]

ok how cool is this guy?

 

[injunjoe]

ok how cool is this guy?

I love them!
What I want is your cameras!
Great picture! As well as all of the pictures on your DH blog.