Good, Bad and Bugly, Identifying the bugs in our garden.

This year has been our first time gardening at this place and I really haven't gardened since I was a kid. I think I forgot more than I ever knew! I started out small because well.. that's what all the books said to do so as not to overwhelm yourself. Maybe if I had put in a bigger garden I might have actually harvested some squash, corn and beans instead of just providing lunch for the squash bugs and lo moth caterpillars. I am going to start a list of good and bad bugs I find in the garden as well as what works for me to combat them or to draw them to the garden.
So far we have had,

Aphids, http://www.buzzle.com/articles/aphids-on-tomato-plants.html

I would wash the plants down really good and then spray them

with neem oil soap. There were also a lot of lady bugs eating them
as fast as the could. Next year I will find a way to discourage the ants
from coming around as they are the ones who farm the aphids.

Tomato Horn worms...
 these I have  really been diligent about watching for, I ck my plants every morning and evening to try and catch them.If you see little round balls of poop sitting on a leaf chances are the worm is really close by.

Squash bugs..bane of my life at the moment!

I haven't found anything that works on these yet but I am going to try this,  I will let you know how it works.

Lo Moth caterpillars....just found 5 of these fuzzy things having a party on my corn leaves.Here is the info I found for it. http://insects.about.com/od/butterfliesmoths/ig/Stinging-Caterpillars/Io-Moth-Caterpillar.htm. Not sure what eats them or kills them yet.

A friend is battling Blister Beatles, these things are just plain mean! Even if they are dead their blood can still burn you. Tabbie is trying to find something to kill them, maybe she will try the coke!

We also had Japanese Beetles..not to bad as they stayed mostly on the wild blackberries. These I just went out very early or late in the evening and would knock them off into a container of water.

Now for the Good Guys!!!

Lady Bugs...they LOVE aphids!

Lacewings...

The tiny larvae that emerges has a voracious appetite and will feed on aphids, small worms, insect eggs, mites, thrips, immature whitefly, and other insects. I will buy these and ladybugs next year, maybe I can get them to eat the squash bug eggs!

As I find more beneficial helpers and identify more pests I will add to this page.