Tag: natural Pest Control

The Hoverfly. Another Pollinator.

Color Photography, wildlife
Hello Friends! Tonight’s Feature Image is titled “Near The Queen’s Heart 72721” and is available for purchase by clicking the thumbnail and reaching out to me on the contact page.

Hardly a summer goes by that I don’t notice the tiny little bee-like hoverfly trying to land on me without being seen. Other times they’ll float in mid air about an inch or so above my skin as if waiting for clearance to land. They’re interested in my salt of course. Like butterflies they need salt to reproduce and humans in the Southern sun tend to have a treasure trove of salt available in their sweat. I normally allow them to get what they need. As a child I was pretty scared of bees and the hoverfly was just another bee to me until Mt grandfather pointed out that it’s just a fly without a sting and you could see its little red tongue licking like a dog. The comparison to a puppy and trust in my grandfather was enough to calm my fears and I became fascinated with the hoverfly. Like the Tachinid flies these little guys are beneficial flies. But they’re not Tachinid flies. They’re in the Syrphid fly family. As adults the hoverflies sip nectar and transfer pollen. And while they don’t carry the payload of a bee they make up the difference by visiting more flowers per flight. Some hoverflies are also predators in the maggot stage and feed on the larvae of aphids while others assist in composting. The rattailed maggot is a type of hoverfly that has a built-in snorkel and is found in the messy end of the barnyard for obvious reasons.

But back to pollination. There’s actually not a lot of research being done on the hoverfly as a pollinator. It’s known that a Chinese variety is the main pollinator of the slipper orchid in Southwest China which leads me to think that our own pink lady’s slipper orchid may have a similar relationship with our native hoverfly. If anyone knows this for sure drop a comment below. The hoverfly is a generalist when it comes to pollination. In tonight’s Feature Image it was found on Queen Anne’s Lace right next to the Belvosia Borealis fly that I covered last night. There’s actually about six thousand species of hoverfly in the world that act as pollinators in their adult stage and I’m not sure which specific hoverfly I have here but I do know that they make me smile when I see them.

Good night friends and be blessed throughout your days.

Announcement 2.0

For those who have been following me on Facebook and know of the struggle content providers have to get circulation from big tech I’ve been recommending for people to adopt MeWe as a social media platform. One of the problems I’ve run into on MeWe is that people don’t know how to navigate the platform. So to help with that I’ve created a permanent page on my website as a basic Basic Beginner’s Guide To MeWe I’ve tried to anticipate all basic questions there and You can bookmark the page to have as a reference and if you have any questions or suggestions don’t hesitate to contact me. I do still have a day job and I help admin several pages on both platforms so replies might be a little slow but I will answer you.

We also have the Lloyd’s Lens Photography Discussion Group on MeWe that is set up as a fully functional community. There you’ll not only be able to see and connect with me but you can also make your own posts and interact with each other.

I want you to join my group on MeWe: https://mewe.com/join/lloydslensphotographydiscussiongroup

Click the link below to jump to the Basic Beginner’s Guide To MeWe.https://lloydslensphotographyllc.com/guide-to-mewe/embed/#?secret=GJGnIQEVHc

Hey Friends! Just a quick reminder that Lloyds Lens Photography is available for portraits!

To book me simply reach out using the Contact Page and we’ll set a date. If you’re within a 50 mile radius of Summersville West Virginia all travel fees are waived.

If you’re enjoying my blog and don’t want to miss a post then you can sign up for email alerts on my website.

WELCOME TO LLOYD’S LENS PHOTOGRAPHY

https://lloydslensphotographyllc.com/embed/#?secret=ZBipPVJdZw

Click here to visithttps://lloydslensphotographyllc.com/

Have you checked out the Zazzle Store?

I’m now using Zazzle to fulfil orders. What this means for you is a secure way to place an order, discount codes & a broader product selection! Simply use the contact form on my websiteand tell me which image you want and I’ll reply with a direct link to where you can place the order.

Clicking on the photo takes you tohttps://www.zazzle.com/lloydslensphotos?rf=238248269630914251Lastly, all of the photos and writings are my original work unless otherwise specified and are not to be copied or reproduced without expressed written permission from the photographerThank you again for your support of my page!♥️

The Fly On The Flowers

Color Photography, wildlife
Hello Friends! Tonight’s Feature Image is titled “Belvosia Borealis 72621a”. I realize that it would be a very special person who would want photos of a fly as home decor. However, there are those who might be educators that want a photo for a classroom etc. All photos found on my website are my original work unless otherwise specified and are available for purchase by clicking the thumbnail and reaching out to me on the contact page.

The highland delta at Muddlety Creek always seems to offer interesting subjects to photograph. And even though I’m reluctant to actually take a camera onto the water this is one place that I might consider it if I had the right boat. But I digress. As I cautiously work my way around the edge of the swamp the slow lumbering flight pattern of a large fly catches my attention. Now a lot of my photo sessions start with my spotting “target of opportunity” and calibrating my eye by taking a few practice shots. I have a good macro lens for insects and the like but experience has taught me that in order for that to work the subject has to be comfortable with my sticking the lens in its face. Most insects flee long before you can get that close so I use the long lens and turn the session into a tiny safari. (This also helps keep your shadow out of the shot.) I snapped a few pictures and noticed that this particular fly was a tacinid. It’s not a biting fly like a horse fly or a black fly. It’s not a house fly or a blow fly. This fly is a free form of pest control and a friend of gardeners. It proved to be “Belvosia Borealis”. And it’s currently pollinating Queen Anne’s Lace which is a type of wild carrot. But that’s really just a side benefit. Tacinid flies are parsitoid flies. That is, like the Great Golden Digger Wasp in last night’s post they start life as a parasite on pest insects.

Image titled “Belvosia Borealis 72621b”.

To be honest I couldn’t find a whole lot of details about which specific pests are controlled by this specific species of Tachinid. There are a lot of individual species and it’s common for each species to target a specific handful of hosts. As a group Tachinid flies help control pests like tomatoe hornworm, gypsy moth, tent caterpillar (AKA army worms) and even squash bugs and Japanese Beetles. The Tachinid flies require a living host to reproduce and it’s not really pleasant but in doing so they can help prevent millions of dollars in crop loss each year. The additional benefit is that instead of a build up of toxic chemicals in the food chain you basically have a biological robot that kills pests, pollenates certain crops and is safe for the birds and fish to consume.

Image Titled “Belvosia Borealis 72621c”. You can see that this fly wants to make you think it’s a bee.

This Belvosia fly has yellow stripes like a bee and if you look closely at the first two images it has blue eyes. I thought that it might just be reflecting the sky but in other online pictures this seems to be the same in all of them. As far as flies go it almost looks like a cartoon fly. Another feature of Tachinid flies is that spiked hairdo. Multiple sources make reference to it being the “Punk Rock Fly”.

In closing I’ll suggest that when you see this one don’t reach for the swatter but instead let it go and and rid your garden of the real pests.

Good night friends and be blessed throughout your days.

Announcement 2.0

For those who have been following me on Facebook and know of the struggle content providers have to get circulation from big tech I’ve been recommending for people to adopt MeWe as a social media platform. One of the problems I’ve run into on MeWe is that people don’t know how to navigate the platform. So to help with that I’ve created a permanent page on my website as a basic Basic Beginner’s Guide To MeWe I’ve tried to anticipate all basic questions there and You can bookmark the page to have as a reference and if you have any questions or suggestions don’t hesitate to contact me. I do still have a day job and I help admin several pages on both platforms so replies might be a little slow but I will answer you.

We also have the Lloyd’s Lens Photography Discussion Group on MeWe that is set up as a fully functional community. There you’ll not only be able to see and connect with me but you can also make your own posts and interact with each other.

I want you to join my group on MeWe: https://mewe.com/join/lloydslensphotographydiscussiongroup

Click the link below to jump to the Basic Beginner’s Guide To MeWe.https://lloydslensphotographyllc.com/guide-to-mewe/embed/#?secret=GJGnIQEVHc

Hey Friends! Just a quick reminder that Lloyds Lens Photography is available for portraits!

To book me simply reach out using the Contact Page and we’ll set a date. If you’re within a 50 mile radius of Summersville West Virginia all travel fees are waived.

If you’re enjoying my blog and don’t want to miss a post then you can sign up for email alerts on my website.

WELCOME TO LLOYD’S LENS PHOTOGRAPHY

https://lloydslensphotographyllc.com/embed/#?secret=ZBipPVJdZw

Click here to visithttps://lloydslensphotographyllc.com/

Have you checked out the Zazzle Store?

I’m now using Zazzle to fulfil orders. What this means for you is a secure way to place an order, discount codes & a broader product selection! Simply use the contact form on my websiteand tell me which image you want and I’ll reply with a direct link to where you can place the order.

Clicking on the photo takes you tohttps://www.zazzle.com/lloydslensphotos?rf=238248269630914251Lastly, all of the photos and writings are my original work unless otherwise specified and are not to be copied or reproduced without expressed written permission from the photographerThank you again for your support of my page!♥️

Encounter With A Mydas Fly

Color Photography, wildlife

Hello Friends! Tonight’s feature image is titled “Mydas Fly 80420” and is available for purchase by the instructions at the bottom of the article.

A the movement of a shadowy predator catches my attention at Kanawha Falls.  I’d actually come here looking to see if the mushrooms I’d spotted in July were still around but they were gone. The creature moved again and at first I thought it was a Mud Dauber wasp but something was wrong with the flight pattern. It didn’t move like a wasp should move. It’s was at that point I began to suspect that I was being lied to.  Mud Daubers are generally non-aggressive even when I’m close to their nests. Sometimes they’ll hover close and try to intimidate you but I’ve never had one actually land on me.  Mud Daubers can fly in a curve but tend to prefer flying in straight lines.  The dark insect before me now moves in curves and circles like a fly. Still, getting stung by any wasp isn’t really my idea of a good time. So I took out my long lens and zoomed in for a better look.  The first thing that struck me was the club like antennae and an abdomen that wasn’t connected to the body by a slender waist. The insect looks like a robber fly but is huge compared to the robber fly. The distinctive reddish orange spots on the abdomen were also an identifying trait. This is a Mydas Fly. Image Titled “Mydas Fly 80420b” showing the iridescent blue sheen on the wings.

The Mydas Fly buzzed me a few times and flicked it’s a few times in an effort to convince me that I was about to be stung. I called it’s bluff and moved a closer.  It charged me and pulled away st the last second.

Most likely it’s there simply to lay eggs in the rotting log.  It needs to do this because it’s babies are predators. The larvae actually resemble the Graboid monster from the movie Tremors. The maggot has an armored head with powerful looking jaws and it hunts beetle larvae.  There’s actually over 400 species of Mydas Flies and some lay eggs in the soil instead of wood. Because they hunt destructive grubs they’re being studied as a natural control on pests.Image Titled “Mydas Fly 80420c” showing the “claws” on the hind legs.

My internet research says that the adult Mydas Fly is also a predator. A closer look at the hind legs shows that they are built like the front legs of a preying mantis. The claw structure is pointed forward suggesting that the a Mydas Fly overtakes it’s pretty in mid flight.  There’s actually controversy in the scientific community about the feeding habits of Mydas Flies because they have been seen pollinating and eating nectar. I suppose that nobody has considered that they might be omnivorous.

After a few minutes I decided it was time to leave the Mydas Fly to go do Mydas Fly things in peace. Perhaps at some point I’ll be able to photograph one with prey and put an end to the controversy.

Hey Friends! Just a quick reminder that Lloyds Lens Photography is available for portraits!

https://youtu.be/UPXlC0uaXW4

To book me simply reach out using the Contact Page and we’ll set a date. If you’re within a 50 mile radius of Summersville West Virginia all travel fees are waived.

If you would like to Follow me on Facebook the web address is

https://www.facebook.com/aviewfromthelens/

If you’re enjoying my blog and don’t want to miss a post then you can sign up for email alerts on my website.

https://lloydslensphotographyllc.com/

Click here to visithttps://lloydslensphotographyllc.com/

Did you know that I also do portraits by appointment? If you’re interested in a portrait session either message me on Facebook or Use the Contact form. The YouTube link below takes you one of my slideshows.

https://youtu.be/FDcrY6w8oY8

Have you checked out the Zazzle Store?

I’m now using Zazzle to fulfil orders. What this means for you is a secure way to place an order, discount codes & a broader product selection! Simplymessage me on Facebookoruse the contact form on my websiteand tell me which image you want and I’ll reply with a direct link to where you can place the order.

Clicking on the photo takes you tohttps://www.zazzle.com/lloydslensphotos?rf=238248269630914251

Lastly, all of the photos and writings are my original work unless otherwise specified and are not to be copied or reproduced without expressed written permission from the photographer

Thank you again for your support of my page! ❤

Sunshine And Roses Part 3

Color Photography, wildlife

Hello Friends! Tonight’s feature image is titled “A Kiss Of Sunshine 71020a” and is available for purchase by the instructions at the bottom of the article.

Over the past few days I’ve learned quite a bit about the carpenter bees. One little factoid that I’ve left out is that how dependant some flowers are on carpenter bees and bumblebees. These two species are more likely to crawl deep into the flowers than honeybees and thus more pollen is caught in the Bee’s fur to be transferred to the next blossom. Certain flowers are designed to take advantage of carpenter bee’s feeding habits and are so adapted that if the carpenter bees are lost then these flowers are lost as well. Furthermore, some garden plants like eggplant and tomato benefit from the strong vibrations produced in the carpenter bee’s powerful thorax. The vibrations set up a sympathetic resonance that shakes lose more pollen than smaller bees. According to the Honeybee Conservancy the economic value of bee dependant crops in the U.S. is around 29 billion dollars. Native Bees like the carpenter bees are responsible for15% of the harvest.

Image Titled “Carpenter Bee In Flight 71020a”

And yet as valuable as they are when they begin boring holes into your home they become a huge problem. So for the third and final part of Sunshine And Roses I wanted to cover a few mitigation and control methods.

When I first noticed a spike in the carpenter bee population in my area it seemed to correlate with a decline in honeybees. I have not seen any studies on this so I am just guessing here. In researching for this article I learned that the size of a carpenter bee’s brood is proportional to the amount of food she’s able to forage. And even though an individual carpenter bee out performs an individual honeybee by large magnitudes there’s far more honeybees in a healthy hive. Remember that only 15% of overall crop production is done by native bees and carpenter bees are only a fraction of the %15. So I propose that if a person us so inclined that learning how to keep honeybees just might have a control effect on carpenter bees. This would be because they are capable of limiting the available forage and thus the carpenter bees have smaller broods.

Mason bees and leaf cutter bees are also highly competitive rivals for the carpenter bees and they’re pretty much care free. Make or buy a special habitat for these bees and place it areas where bee food grows. The wild varieties will show up and limit food access to the carpenter bees. Plus these types of bees don’t make new holes in wood but instead take over holes that are already there.

The true bumblebees live in underground tunnels. And they actually out perform the carpenter bee on a one on one basis. However, in order to attract bumblebees you need bare ground and they have to like that spot. There are tame bumblebee hives available but there’s a significant risk that they will transmit disease to the wild ones.

Finally there are the more traditional methods of control.

Chemical pesticides such as pyrethrin are used to kill a nest on contact and then the hole is plugged with a dowl rod.

A few sources say to use orange oil to make the wood unpleasant for the carpenter bees. An alternative is peppermint oil. In strong concentration the peppermint is said to overwhelmed the bees sense of smell and make them uncomfortable. However, I seen carpenter bees pollinating mints.

Simply painting wood surfaces with a good paint or stain makes it unsuitable for nesting by the carpenter bee. If it’s a surface that you want to keep natural then a clear coat is better than nothing.

There are traps you can make or buy that uses blocks of wood attached to a bottle. The idea is that the carpenter bee will explore holes drilled in the wood that leads to a clear bottle or jar and can’t find their way out again. These are hung near the home and because there’s already a hole that’s the right size the bees will try to save energy by taking over that hole. Carpenter bees only live for one season but the brood will return to same hole and expand the tunnel. Several years of this will destroy the structure eventually and it makes it vulnerable to fungus.

Regardless of the control methods that’s right for you I do ask you to remember that carpenter bees are part of nature and important to some wildflowers that support the other life in the forest. So leave them some space on the edge of the forest well away from your home. Simply drilling 1/2 inch holes in a stump or block of wood and placing it in the right place will both draw them away from the home and keep them out there working as pollenators.

Hey Friends! Just a quick reminder that Lloyds Lens Photography is available for portraits!

To book me simply reach out using the Contact Page and we’ll set a date. If you’re within a 50 mile radius of Summersville West Virginia all travel fees are waived.

Hello Friends and thank you for your support of my page. If you have enjoyed the photos or the writings please let me know by commenting and sharing my work on your social media. I also want to invite you to Follow Lloyds Lens Photography on Facebook

If you would like to Follow me on Facebook the web address is

https://www.facebook.com/aviewfromthelens/

If you’re enjoying my blog and don’t want to miss a post then you can sign up for email alerts on my website.

https://lloydslensphotographyllc.com/

Click here to visithttps://lloydslensphotographyllc.com/

Did you know that I also do portraits by appointment? If you’re interested in a portrait session either message me on Facebook or Use the Contact form. The YouTube link below takes you one of my slideshows.

https://youtu.be/FDcrY6w8oY8

Have you checked out the Zazzle Store?

I’m now using Zazzle to fulfil orders. What this means for you is a secure way to place an order, discount codes & a broader product selection! Simplymessage me on Facebookoruse the contact form on my websiteand tell me which image you want and I’ll reply with a direct link to where you can place the order.

Clicking on the photo takes you tohttps://www.zazzle.com/lloydslensphotos?rf=238248269630914251

Lastly, all of the photos and writings are my original work unless otherwise specified and are not to be copied or reproduced without expressed written permission from the photographer.

Thank you again for your support of my page!❤

Leafhoppers And The Box Fan Trick.

Color Photography, wildlife

Hello Friends! Tonight’s feature image is titled “Candy Striped Leafhopper 61520a” and is available for purchase by the instructions at the bottom of the article.

One of the tiniest creatures in the mountains is also one of our most colorful. The Candy Striped Leafhopper. I always thought that they reminded me of a Neon Tetra sold at pet stores. But this colorful little critter with it’s sweet sounding name is responsible for major damage done to certain timber crops as well as crops like brambles and roses. The insect lands on a leaf and like a vampire sucks the life from the leaf. What’s left behind is a dead, dry curled up leaf that almost looks mummified.

A single Leafhopper by itself does relatively little damage but they can arrive in dense swarms. In late Spring and early Summer we often see clouds insects flying in corkscrew patterns around outdoor lights. Closer inspection will show that a large portion of the swarm to be Green Leafhoppers which have the same feeding patterns as the Candy Striped Leafhopper.

So what do you do about them? Well, I’m in favor of as much natural controls as I can make work. One trick that seemed to have a marginal amount of success in reducing a large number of nocturnal insects was that fan trap. A fan trap is simple to make. You simply take a cheap box fan and attach a thin cloth to the side that blows out. Then a bright light is hung directly in front of fan intake. The insects are drawn to the light and pulled into the fan which pins them to the cloth. The airflow dries them out and they die.

I found that the local songbirds absolutely love the free meal if you empty the cloth in a place where they can find it.

As seen in the video the fan trap can be used in the daytime too. The main things to remember is that you want to protect the fan from the weather. Most box fans are not rated for outdoor use and not only could unexpected rain ruin your fan but there’s also a risk of an electrical fire or shock if the connections get wet. It’s also likely to catch beneficial insects like lacewings in the trap so try to keep an eye on what types of bugs are caught in it.

Of course there’s the insecticidal soaps and systemic chemicals. I try to avoid those because they often kill honeybees and other pollenators. Running the fan traps at night really reduces the risk to honeybees since they’re not normally out at night. And setting up a timer makes it easier to shut the fan trap down before sunrise.

Hey Friends! Just a quick reminder that Lloyds Lens Photography is available for portraits!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

To book me simply reach out using the Contact Page and we’ll set a date. If you’re within a 50 mile radius of Summersville West Virginia all travel fees are waived.

Hello Friends and thank you for your support of my page. If you have enjoyed the photos or the writings please let me know by commenting and sharing my work on your social media. I also want to invite you to Follow Lloyds Lens Photography on Facebook

If you would like to Follow me on Facebook the web address is

https://www.facebook.com/aviewfromthelens/

If you’re enjoying my blog and don’t want to miss a post then you can sign up for email alerts on my website.

https://lloydslensphotographyllc.com/

Click here to visithttps://lloydslensphotographyllc.com/

Did you know that I also do portraits by appointment? If you’re interested in a portrait session either message me on Facebook or Use the Contact form. The YouTube link below takes you one of my slideshows.

https://youtu.be/FDcrY6w8oY8

Have you checked out the Zazzle Store?

I’m now using Zazzle to fulfil orders. What this means for you is a secure way to place an order, discount codes & a broader product selection! Simplymessage me on Facebookoruse the contact form on my websiteand tell me which image you want and I’ll reply with a direct link to where you can place the order.

Clicking on the photo takes you tohttps://www.zazzle.com/lloydslensphotos?rf=238248269630914251

Lastly, all of the photos and writings are my original work unless otherwise specified and are not to be copied or reproduced without expressed written permission from the photographer.

Thank you again for your support of my page!❤