On this page the following entries were made in the “Good Bugs” category. Check out other categories in our Archives.
Bug Blog Archives for “Good Bugs”
Holiday Announcement and the Summer Beetles
Independence Day — the fourth of July — will soon be upon us. For us it’s always been a demarcation line of sorts. Being that for years our customers have been almost exclusively of the commercial plant-growing variety, the season would slow down for them, sales of plants done, and the season would consequentially slow down for us, too. Now, however, between parks and other institutions, interiorscapers, and more home gardeners finding us on the web than ever before (those sold plants are now in their, your, hands, perhaps), our season has been extended right through to the end. And we’re with you all the way. But first, here are two important announcements.
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Atheta Observations
Once a week we get a report from Brian Spencer of Applied Bio-nomics Ltd. in British Columbia (Canada). It’s mostly inside news for us and their other world-wide distributors, but we occasionally share a tidbit or two if it’s interesting or generally helpful. This one falls into the interesting category, but could prove helpful for some if serving as motivation to try something new. It concerns the soil-dwelling predator Atheta coriaria.
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Now Offering Nile Delta Encarsia
At the urging of one of the biological pest control agent producers we work with, we have decided to bring on board a somewhat newer strain of our popular whitefly parasitoid, Encarsia formosa. Specifically, we’ve added what is known as the Nile Delta strain of E. formosa.
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Predator Mite Mixes… Necessary?
Last year we were asked why we don’t offer a mixture of our three Mite Predator Trio species. The person asking felt that because we list them on the same page, and call them a trio, that all of the species ordered come in one container. We concede to that, the potential for confusion, that is. Any misleading information, though, is quickly negated when trying to order them, as our caller learned. But, confusion aside, it seems offering a mixture of various species in one container is popular in the industry, so why we don’t do it, too, is a fair question.
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Order Now for 2010 Orchard Mason Bees
We don’t actually offer orchard mason bees, Osmia lignaria, in our catalog — we used to back in 1999 to 2004 — and we don’t offer them online, yet it has been brought to my attention that I should announce that folks should order them now if they want them for 2010. Confused?
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New Critter: Swirskii for Thrips
It’s taken us three years to jump on board, but we wanted to be sure of many things before we said “I do,” so to speak. But here it is, three years later, and we have finally decided to add a new critter to our line-up: Amblyseius swirskii. In a nutshell, A. swirskii is a predatory mite useful in the control of thrips predominantly, with whitefly following a close second, and with some impact to spider mites as a noted side benefit. This predator is useful and effective in a variety of greenhouse crops and holds a lot of promise. Stay tuned.
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