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CCC/Dennis
Joined: 15 Jun 2003
Posts: 8
Location: Ft. Worth,TEXAS
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| Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2003 5:18 pm Post subject: Leaf Footed Bugs |
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| My prickly pear cactus have been invaded by what I believe to be leaf footed bugs. They appear to be eating the cactus, and generally having a grand old time. I have noticed them for about 1½ months, and just today sprayed Garlic Pepper Tea. If this doesn't work, what's the best next treatment? Thanks to all for any help. |
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Dchall_San_Antonio
Joined: 18 Mar 2003
Posts: 2038
Location: San Antonio,TEXAS
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| Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2003 1:00 pm Post subject: |
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| A completely non toxic spray is a gallon of water mixed with 3 ounces of liquid seaweed and 3 ounces of molasses. This should do no harm to living plants. The idea is to build up a protective layer of microbes on the outside of the plant. In a lot of cases this works great to keep pests off the plants. |
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northwesterner
Joined: 02 Jul 2003
Posts: 153
Location: Fort Worth,TEXAS
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| Posted: Fri Oct 21, 2005 10:56 am Post subject: |
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I have also experienced these bugs, but they seem to be selective in the cactus they choose to eat. The native prickly pear cactus (I dug it up in a field across the road from the house) sometimes have little herds of these bugs ranging on their surfaces and they have these round little whitish spots under the skin of the pad. I spray with soapy water and that seems to take care of them for a while. A couple of other cacti have occasional bug visitors, but they don't seem to stay. Makes me wonder if these bugs are specific to the cactus in this area?
Also, a friend and I were looking at these cacti yesterday and he launched into a naturalist moment when he saw some small white things attached to the pads. About the size of a small pea, they were white web wrappings, and when he squeezed it the contents were bright red. He said he heard that these little bug things were used to make the red dye that gave British soldiers their "red coat" reputation.
We agree that there are some gaps in that story! We were examining bugs from a Texas cactus, not a place the British were likely to visit during their Revolutionary War "Red Coat" days just to get dye. They would use something that appears in Great Britain where they have the wool ready to dye. Is this perhaps a bug that occurs all over the place on various plants, and I just happen to find them on my cactus? BTW: I don't know if these packets have any relationship to the beetles.
I guess I'd better get out the digital camera. . .
Northwesterner |
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