Bug ID... Help

Can anyone ID this bug? So far it is only on my turnip leaves and I'v spotted a few on my mustard greens. I tried the soapy water trick for the past few days, but so far nothing. They just fly away and after awhile I see them again. So far I only see a few, but I know they are eating my leaves due to the holes I see.

Thanks

Could it be this?

http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/chf/outreach/eduresources/bad1/card13.htm

I'm starting to think it is some kind of flea beetle. I've been looking around and saw this product at one of the big box home improvement stores and figured I would do some research on it. So far it looks like it would do the trick, but I wonder what others think.

Safer® Brand EndALL™ Insect Killer

Safer® Brand Insect Killing Soap

Safer® Brand Garden Dust with B.T.

I forgot to add

Safer® Brand Tomato and Vegetable Insect Killer

I think I'm going to go with either EndALL™ Insect Killer or Tomato and Vegetable Insect Killer both by Safer Brand.

Beware, if you go the route of insecticide, it WILL KILL INDISCRIMINATELY. No two ways about that. This means that it may kill the pollinating insects that you need in your garden to make all those wonderful vegetables. Please read and follow the label directions.
~~OR~~
You could try cloaking the bed/plants with a barrier like tulle or row cover.

A few days ago I discovered this black bug with light markings shaped like a potato bug but a bit smaller devouring my lettuce patch. Now it's moved on to my arugula. I have tried 3 or 4 different organic pesticides, and nothing has really kept them away, or even bothered them much. They have come back stronger.

Please help. Is there a specific remedy for this bug? Has anyone had any success with this pest? Please have a look at the picture (a little blurry I know. . .)

Thanks!!!

https://i.servimg.com/u/f48/17/68/51/52/photo12.jpg

I have been looking but haven't figured it out yet, just wanted to say to the forum! I am sure someone with more pest experience will come along shortly.

Hi Jim, you can try BugGuide.net <~~click

Hand picking is probably your best bet. Just pick them off the plant and drop them into soapy water. For a positive ID contact you local County Cooperative Extension Service.

I started finding these bugs around my garden at the same time I started to find SVB damage. I thought these were SVB and squished them whenever I could. Then I had a good look at SVB pics and now realize I was wrong. Any idea what these are? Notice the pattern on the back - see the black heart?
[img][/img]

While I'm the topic of bugs, I just had to share this since it is soooooo strange. We have a small pool (12' wide). the other day the girls said they found a water beetle in the pool. I figured it was just one of the many bugs which come to die in the pool. Well, it really is some sort of waterbug. How it ever got into the pool and how it lived with the chlorine is a huge mystery (although the chlorine levels have fluctuate quite a bit on me this year and so it may have been low enough at the time the bug showed up). We're at least a mile from the nearest creek.They now have a new pet they keep in a bucket of rain-barrel water.

I just found this little guy on one of my potted citrus trees. He's about 3/4" long and quite active. I want to make sure he's one of the "good guys".

Can anyone tell me what he is?
Thanks,
Gloria

GloriaG, you got a Giant Swallowtail butterfly caterpillar! They are suppose to look like bird poop. And they definitely feed on citrus. That's so cool. Possibly Papilio cresphontes.

Roseinarosecity wrote:GloriaG, you got a Giant Swallowtail butterfly caterpillar! They are suppose to look like bird poop. And they definitely feed on citrus. That's so cool. Possibly Papilio cresphontes.

Oh Gloria! Lucky, lucky you!. Don't fret the plant will grow more leaves!

J, I think your bug with the heart on the back is a box elder bug.

Thanks everyone. I guess I'll have to do a little more research.

Texas Ag says that Giant Swallowtail caterpillars are called "Orange dogs" and are pests. That they can devastate small potted citrus tress quickly. Because my trees are so small, perhaps I can cover them or provide a different host plant.

Thanks again,
Gloria

camprn . I'm impressed with how you can keep such a great prolific garden and bees and still have time to help so many on this forum
Turns out it's not a boxelder bug but a small milkweed bug. But I never would have known that without your tip - it was only when I googled "boxelder bug" that I saw one bug with the correct pattern, and I had to do a bit more searching to come up with "small milkweed bug". http://bugguide.net/node/view/460
BTW I did search bugguide.net site before posting to the forum but I wasn;t able to find anything then (since I had no idea where to start).
I suspect they are feeding on the groundcherry plants, but those plants are thriving. I've considered growing milkweek but never found time or space to do it.

Hey Thanks J! Glad you found it. At first I thought it was a beetle, but on second look decided it was a bug... Insects are pretty darn fascinating.

If you ever get time to plant a milk weed, the bees will come to your garden more often

camprn wrote:Hey Thanks J! Glad you found it. At first I thought it was a beetle, but on second look decided it was a bug... Insects are pretty darn fascinating.

If you ever get time to plant a milk weed, the bees will come to your garden more often

So will the Monarch Butterflies.