Garden pest identification

[duncan drennan]

I've been struggling to identify this bug, and this is the only place in South Africa that I know of that might be able to help. Any ideas what this is?

[Dave A]

It looks like one of the chafers or possibly one of the monkey beetles. I can possibly narrow it down with an accurate length and a top shot.

The most likely candidate from what I've seen is the flower chafer. There are variants with different colouration which could make getting it down to species tricky.

[duncan drennan]

It looks like one of the chafers or possibly one of the monkey beetles. I can possibly narrow it down with an accurate length and a top shot.

Thanks! That at least gives me a name to search for so I can find a suitable solution Don't think it is too important to identify the exact one, but it's body is about 5mm long. It is on a gold-coin daisy, but they are also infesting my gazanias.

[duncan drennan]

Searching for "flower chafer site:za" turned up this useful site, http://www.insecta.co.za/

[Dave A]

5mm? If that is the total length, it's pretty small for a chafer.

Scarabaeidae generally start at 9mms and are mostly quite a bit larger than that.

More likely one of the monkey beetles - they're from the same family and quite a few species are specific to the Western Cape.

[duncan drennan]

More likely one of the monkey beetles - they're from the same family and quite a few species are specific to the Western Cape.

Quick search on the web for a monkey beetle reveals that it is definitely one of those. From everything that I can find, it turns out that these are actually important pollinators of the daisy family. Not too sure why I am being over run by them, but I'll just leave them to get on with their business - maybe it will attract some more birds.

[Dave A]

Not too sure why I am being over run by them,

Because the pickings are good at the moment (true) and they know you're soft on bugs (speculative)

[Morticia]

Jikkels stikkels Dave, is there anything that you don't know something about??? LOL

Any suggestions on ant infestations - in my BATHROOM nogals!! Ironically, the more I clean and disinfect, the bigger the attracation? They appear to be something in between common garden variety black "sugar ants" and red ants??

[Dave A]

Jikkels stikkels Dave, is there anything that you don't know something about???

Lots still to learn - trust me. My original business specialty was an inspector for wood-destroying insects (of economic significance) and it all got out of control from there. The original long story, and I won't bore with the details.

Any suggestions on ant infestations - in my BATHROOM nogals!! Ironically, the more I clean and disinfect, the bigger the attracation? They appear to be something in between common garden variety black "sugar ants" and red ants??

Sure, but Duncan won't like some of it.

The keys to ant control is to identify the location of the colony and good sanitation (removing potential food sources and other attractants, harbourages and access points). Simply using an insecticide to eliminate visible ants does not control the problem and can actually aggravate it. Only between 10 & 20% of the colony forages, and as is the way with nature when threatened (with a high mortality rate among foragers, for example), the reproduction instinct gets stronger. With ants in particular, the colony could "bud" or split into multiple colonies more regularly as a survival mechanism. You now have multiple breeding colonies in different locations instead of just one.

For this reason the colony must be targeted and eliminated, either by direct application of an insecticide to the colony or with a bait program if the colony is not so easy to locate.

Moving to more Duncan friendly points (and they really do help ) - Reduce potential harbourages (places where the ant colony could set up home) by sealing cracks and crevices (caulking). Also recognise food and water sources that might be attracting ants to areas where you don't want them and make sure they're not available. When it comes to food and food storage, small habit changes can make a big difference with a little patience. Done right, the ants will go elsewhere and no longer be a "pest."

Actual method detail changes somewhat between colonies that are indoors as opposed to colonies that are outdoors, but the underlying principles remain much the same.

[duncan drennan]

Done right, the ants will go elsewhere and no longer be a "pest."

Sugar water on your neighbours porch might work.......

[duncan drennan]

I found this spider in my post box a little while back, and was wondering what kind it is. The body size was around 5mm (I think). Follow the link for a larger photo.

(PS. Dave, could you change the thread name to "Garden insect identification"?)

[Dave A]

Hmm. Poses a problem - arachnids are not insects. Two too many legs.
For me it gets better - I've just discovered I don't have an ID book on spiders.

[duncan drennan]

Hmm. Poses a problem - arachnids are not insects. Two too many legs.

Ja, ja, I know

[duncan drennan]

It looks like the spider is a brown widow spider (commonly known as a brown button spider in South Africa). I happened to find another one in my braai (female with larger abdoment), and decided to find out what it was. I suspect that it is a male in the photo.

[Dave A]

Interesting distribution. Apart from the lack of origon, wikipedia is talking about tropical areas. Capetown is not exactly tropical!