Tuesday 9 June 2009

Mystery Green Bug - what is it?!!

I finally got around to emptying out my old pots of dead and dying tulips, which were totally infested with aphids and looking generally pretty nasty. I'm hoping this will have dramatically reduced the resident greenfly population in one blow...

However, when I turned one of the containers over to empty its contents out I noticed three of these green bugs on the bottom. They look a bit like flattened caterpillars and don't seem to move much/at all - even when poked with a bit of twig (a very scientific method of investigation!). Does anyone have any ideas what they are? I've never come across anything like them before. Are they friend or foe?


4 comments:

Liz said...

It's a Hoverfly Larvae, they will have been feasting on your aphids - a gardener's best friend!

Stephanie said...

This bug looks like a leaf. Definitely will miss it if this bug stops on a tree. I have never seen this kind of bug in real but in pictures or tv.

Flora said...

Liz: Thanks for the bug ID - good to think that it's something positive. There's certainly plenty of food for them! Thanks also for the other suggestions on aphid control... I'll have to keep squishing them as I go in and out of the flat.

Flora said...

Stephanie: I've had a look at the life cycle of the Hoverfly and it seems that the photo I took was of it as a pupa - the bit immediately before it turns into a Hoverfly. You're right though, it looks really like a small leaf!