Garden Insects Good, Bad, and Ugly

I don't spray pesticides in my garden.  My first year of vegetable gardening, I used Sevin powder and the supposedly organic stuff made
from chrysanthemums, pyrethrum.  I did not find either to be very effective.  Squash bugs laughed at them, and at me.  There's no telling how many beneficial insects I was killing or driving away while failing to kill the true pests.  Today I have two big pest control strategies...first, disrupt the life cycle of my worst insect pests by waiting to plant the vegetables they like to eat and second, squish 'em.  That's right.  Index finger meets thumb becoming the insect vise grip of death.  Some of them even make a satisfying pop sound when you do it right.

Horrible, right?  Sorry, no.  These bugs eat the plants that make my food. Unacceptable. So while I often admire the alien-like strangeness of insect life, if they are in my garden to eat my vegetables, like this majestic grasshopper, they gotta die. Pop.

Japanese beetles are another voracious plant eater. Here's a picture my wife snapped of one of these Asian invaders in our asparagus. I prefer to wear gloves when squishing these bad boys. Crunchy.

These appear to be newly hatched or hatching Harlequin Bugs. They destroyed my brassicas last year, so I did not plant any cabbage-family plants until very late in the season this year. I'm lucky I found this tomato leaf when I did. I try to remember to check leaves for squash bug eggs as well. If I find them, I pull that leaf, bag it, and put it in the trash.

We certainly have many beneficial insects. My wife photographed this Praying Mantis earlier this summer. I've seen a number of these guys in my garden, and I'd gladly have more. They are my allies in the fight. The struggle is real.

Bees and other pollinators are also my friends. These guys are the main reason I don't spray pesticides. What's the use in killing bad insects if I'm also preventing my flowering vegetables from being pollinated? Here Mrs. Rabbit captured male bees overnighting in our asparagus. Male bees often don't return to a nest at night, so they like to sleep near flowers. We would often find them in the asparagus at dusk, and still there the next morning, rousing and getting moving when the sun warms them up.

Here's the ugly. Photo credits again to my bride. I've had a lot of pickleworms in my squash and cucumbers this year. They're nasty. Adult pickleworm moths lay eggs on squash or cukes, and the worms feed on the flowers and the fruit, boring perfect little hole and tunnels in my vegetables.

Those are some of my garden insect foes and friends. What kind of bugs are in your garden?