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Nothing bugs Don and Leah of
Beneficial bugs take a little longer than pesticides to begin working, but they do work, “Whereas using chemicals also kills the good beneficial insects and its use is not save for the environment. Most insects will build up resistance to pesticides, and eventually more and more chemicals have to be used for the same effect.”
Buglogical’s customers range from homeowners, schools, universities, United States department of agriculture, state parks, county parks, city parks, amusement parks, greenhouses, golf courses, organic farms, Disney world, and resorts.
Don and Leah attribute Buglogical’s growth to increasing public awareness in the use of beneficial insect and providing good information to our customers in the type of beneficial insects needed for their garden and farm. Customer service is their highest priority in providing information and live delivery of their insects.
Insects are the dominant life-form on earth. Millions may exist in a single acre of land. About one million species have been described, and there may be as many as ten times that many yet to be identified. Of all creatures on earth, insects are the main consumers of plants. They also play a major role in the breakdown of plant and animal material and constitute a major food source for many other animals. Insects are extraordinarily adaptable creatures, having evolved to live successfully in most environments on earth, including deserts and the Antarctic. The only place where insects are not commonly found is the oceans. If they are not physically equipped to live in a stressful environment, insects have adopted behaviors to avoid such stresses. Insects possess an amazing diversity in size, form, and behavior. It is believed that insects are so successful because they have a protective shell or exoskeleton, they are small, and they can fly. Their small size and ability to fly permits escape from enemies and dispersal to new environments. Because they are small they require only small amounts of food and can exist in very small niches or spaces. In addition, insects can produce large numbers of offspring relatively quickly. Insect populations also possess considerable genetic diversity and a great potential for adaptation to different or changing environments. This makes them an especially formidable pest of crops, able to adapt to new plant varieties as they are developed or rapidly becoming resistant to insecticides. Insects are directly beneficial to humans by producing honey, silk, wax, and other products. Indirectly, they are important as pollinators of crops, natural enemies of pests, scavengers, and food for other creatures. At the same time, insects are major pests of humans and domesticated animals because they destroy crops and vector diseases. In reality, less than one percent of insect species are pests, and only a few hundred of these are consistently a problem. In the context of agriculture, an insect is a pest if its presence or damage results in an economically important loss.
The adage "know your enemy" is especially appropriate when it comes to insect pests. The more we know about their biology and behavior, including their natural enemies, the more likely we will be able to manage them effectively.
DON'T BUG ME Waynesburg greenhouse owners turn to mother nature - rather than pesticides - to rid their plants of unwanted visitors
"Going green," a trend, concept or movement, is becoming a catch-all phase for making our lives better.
"Green" is everywhere these days - in the news, politics, fashion and even technology. It can be easy to get caught up in the everyday stuff - switching to organic foods, turning down the thermostat, recycling ... the list goes on.
Now, we see green in the greenhouse where Ethan and Dawn Phillips, owners of Mother Earth Farm greenhouse at the intersection of Routes 221 and 19 in Ruff Creek, Greene County. They have committed to make their plants and flowers "earth friendly" by abandoning the use of pesticides and incorporating nature's own defense against harmful insects. In other words, they are using bugs that eat bugs.
The tube-like cocoons are semi-naked now, but flats of varieties of flowers, plants and vegetables soon will cover the rows and rows of tables before the mature plants are taken to their retail greenhouse.
"We don't spray with pesticides anymore," Ethan said, "because many of the insects that attack the plants have become resistant."
Dawn said the chemicals are neither consumer nor environmentally friendly.
So, Dawn ordered 9,000 ladybugs and some encarsia formosa (whitefly-eating wasps) to keep the insects that attack their plants under control.
The bugs the Phillipses purchased from www.buglogical.com are expected to eat and destroy pests such as aphids, thrips, mites, scale and whitefly populations.
Also called to duty to guard the Phillipses' livelihood are their dog, Susie, and two black cats.
"Susie, who came from the Greene County Humane Society, is responsible for keeping out the raccoons. So far, she has dispatched two of them. The cats, as you would expect, take care of the mice," Dawn said.
The couple recognize that in raising flowers, vegetables or otherwise, they are engaged in a constant battle.
And the primary enemy are the aphids, sneaky and inconspicuous little beasties.
They can show up, breed like crazy and destroy flowers, vegetables and even trees before you ever realize there's a problem.
And that is where the ladybugs come in.
"When we used pesticides, we had to wear protective gear, take the animals out of the greenhouse and remove their food. This process was just not time-friendly," Dawn said.
With the ladybugs, all she has to do is shake some of the bugs on a plant and let them do their work.
According to the buglogical website, ladybugs are capable of consuming up to 50 to 60 aphids per day but will also eat a variety of other insects and larvae, including scales, mealy bugs, leaf hoppers, mites and various types of soft-bodied insects.
Also, ladybugs are natural enemies of many insect pests, and it has been demonstrated that a single ladybug may consume as many as 5,000 aphids in its lifetime.
Dawn said ladybugs search for food from dawn to dusk. Ladybugs are shipped in the adult stage and when released should mate and lay eggs within eight to 10 days.
This particular batch arrived in a bag, or two or three, and most of them have been sprinkled onto vulnerable plants.
"We realize there may not be a 100 percent eradication of these pests," Dawn said. "But our customers can be assured when they take a plant home, no pesticide was used on it."
This will be the fifth year the Phillipses have operated Mother Earth Farm.
They started with a large garden on the family farm in Ruff Creek. In 2006, they built their first greenhouse, and in 2007 opened for their first spring season selling bedding plants, hanging baskets and vegetables in Ruff Creek.