Any Idea What These Two Critters Are? (pics)

[rnewste]

I've been closely inspecting my tomato plants this afternoon, and I found these two guys (and some of their mates) on 3 of my Goose Creek plants (at least, they have good "taste").





This one seems to be a brown color, as opposed to the crimson of the first critter:



Before I go Rambo with the Insecticide spraying, can someone tell me what these guys (or gals) are, and how best to treat them to a dirt-nap?

Thanks for your help,

Raybo

[travis]

I'd say aphids.

[travis]

Aphids provide many beneficial bugs with food. If you have a huge infestation that needs to be brought under control and don't have sufficient parasitic wasps, lady bugs, etc., then you should consider a biological that will not kill the beneficials that otherwise will be preying on the aphids.

[rnewste]

Thanks Travis, Life is a fine balance and I want to "modulate" my chemical response to the (possible) threat on the health and productivity of my garden. I think I will just monitor the count of these critters for the next few weeks, and if they increase in number significantly, then I will consider loading up the sprayer.

Raybo

[sprtsguy76]

Ray I went out to the garden after reading your post to check out what I was seeing on my plants and sure as @#$! I got those same pinkish red aphids on my plants too. I found just a couple small families nothing that has me worried yet.

Damon

[rnewste]

Hey Damon,

From what I am learning, small quantities of them will do little harm - - it is only when swarms of them descend on a plant that they can cause severe damage. I am holding some Sevin and Permethrin in reserve, but at the moment, I am in monitor mode only....

Raybo

[mdvpc]

Green lacewings take care of the aphids in my garden, better than when I was spraying with a pesticide.

[b54red]

Watch the population closely especially on some of the lower leaves undersides. I watched mine too long this year and they exploded on me. May be one of the reasons the blight spread so fast in my tomatoes this year. Looked like the plants with the heaviest aphid infestation were also the first to show any blight symptoms which have now spread to many of my plants.

[Aphid]

It may be the other way around,

unfortunately weak plants are like aphid magnets, from my past experiences,a heathy plant never has much problem with infestation.

when I was using strong pesticides my problems got worse every year.
I know it sounds cliche' but once I went the organic route no more severe bug problems.

[saltmarsh]

I wouldn't worry about leaving the aphids for the beneficials. There are plenty of host plants around to take care of that for you. Healthy plants don't seem to be bothered too much by a few aphids on their leaves, but even a healthy plant will drop blooms if they start sucking on the bloom clusters. I use the protein paste method of control. Inspect the underside of leaves (especially tender new growth). When you find aphids gently squeeze the leaf between your thumb and forefinger creating a protein paste. Be sure to squeeze the immature nymphs also as they make excellent protein paste as well. When you finish inspecting the plants carry your thumb and forefinger inside and wash well with soap and water and they will be ready to use next time. Claud

[dcarch]

The one with the flamboyant color is a gay aphid.

Just kidding. Aphids actually have interesting reproductive habits.

Get rid of aphid farmers: ants.

dcarch

[b54red]

Originally Posted by Aphid

It may be the other way around,

unfortunately weak plants are like aphid magnets, from my past experiences,a heathy plant never has much problem with infestation.

when I was using strong pesticides my problems got worse every year.
I know it sounds cliche' but once I went the organic route no more severe bug problems.

No it wasn't the other way around because a friend who was totally organic gave up due to the aphid infestation this year. Virtually all of my soil amending is totally organic and most spraying is too; but there is a point where it becomes downright counterproductive to allow the bugs to eat more than I do. I had no blight symptoms for nearly 6 weeks but had some aphids on a few very healthy plants particularly Aunt Gerties Gold and Wes. I used some soap sprays and kept waiting for the ladybugs to leave my beans and other plants and get to work on my tomatoes but I waited too long. The plants I set out after the heavy aphid influx have had almost no signs of disease nor have the disease resistant hybrids. Only problem is I am growing mostly heirlooms trying to find the few that can tolerate these conditions. So far Berkley Tie Dye, Gregori's Altai, Kosovo, Gary O' Sena, JD's Special C Tex, Neves Azorean Red, and a couple more are showing great disease tolerance of the new ones this year. Last year Marianna's Peace did great but only when planted a little later.
I live in an area surrounded by commercial tomato growers and as a result the sucking insects seem to be huge vectors for disease. Most of the commercial growers have gone to growing very resistant hybrids. They used to grow Rutgers, Atkinson and even Big Beef but not much anymore because their livelihood depends on production. Not even many home gardeners will venture into growing heirlooms in this area. I am trying to change that and gave away hundreds of heirloom plants this year. Hopefully their results will also help determine which ones get another shot next year.