Cicadas
This summer seems to be shaping up to be ‘the season of the Cicada’ as their presence is being heard more stridently this year than most other years – or at least here on the Coffs Coast. Australia has a huge reputation for cicadas with a predicted 700-1000 species. This figure far outstrips South Africa […]
Dindymus versicolor – Harlequin Bug
CHGC member Sue came to an outing armed with images of this rather pretty critter and wanted to know what it was. It’s a bad guy, commonly known as Harlequin Bug, Dindymus versicolor and can really wreck havoc on succulent new growth – in Sue’s case, her broadbeans. Sometimes these insects are known as Pull me/Push you […]
Glycyphana stolata – A Good Guy?
Commonly known as the Brown Flower Beetle, Glycyphana stolata is a good guy in that he assist with pollination. I was deadheading my roses this morning and came across this critter on a Seduction rose, so snipped off the flower, shoved it into a plastic bag so identification could be done later. Gave this investigative duty to hubby who […]
Pest Alert for Lilly Pilly Hedges
This is a repeat of an article written on the Coffs Harbour Garden Club’s blog some time ago. It has always generated a lot of comment and interest. The latest advice is for a Yates product – Baythroid. You can see product reviews here where some claim success. What has to be taken into account […]
Organic Approach to Pest Control Part 4 – Diatomaceous Earth
Diatomaceous Earth – This magical dust is effective against caterpillars, ants, apohids, codling moth, whitefly, beetles, loopers, mites, snails, slugs, leaf hoppers and a variety of other insect pests. What is it? Diatomaceous Earth is a naturally occurring siliceous sedimentary mineral compound from microscopic skeletal remains of unicellular algae-like plants call diatoms. These plants have […]
Organic Approach to Pest Control Part 1 – Fruit Fly
This subject was first written about on the Coffs Harbour Garden Club blogspot and as it generated so much discussion, this and other organic approach to pest control articles will be reposted here. Let us look at one common pest – the fruit fly. There are some sound husbandry measures that can assist in this pest’s limitation. […]
Pest Alert for Lilly Pilly Hedges
Looks a pretty ‘cool’ beetle with its glossy pale green colour? Well think again folks, this little critter can completely decimate your Lilly Pilly (Syzygium) hedge. If your hedge is looking a bit like the following image ……. read on for the bad news. For some time the green strip leaf beetle Calomela pallida was thought […]
Black Soldier Fly – hermetia illucens
If you have a worm farm and noticed that there are quite large larvae present this is most probably the critter – Black Soldier Fly hermetia illucens. The adult fly, which measures about 16mm has a life span of 5 to 8 days. It is very close in size, colour and appearance to some wasps. It […]
‘Frogarium’
Peter Johnson will be the speaker at the February meeting. Peter has been breeding frogs since 1985 and established his Frogarium some years ago and has had to ‘jump through some hoops’ to get it approved and open to the public. You may have noticed the enormous bird-cage structures at the garden centre at Boambee […]
Carpenter Bee – January Speaker
Australia has around 1600 species of native bees and Past President Sue is going to do a short segment on just one of those – the Great Carpenter Bee. These bees are found in tropical and subtropical areas of Australia and are what we know as buzz pollinators – that is they vibrate the flowers, […]
