Bag O Garden Pests

I collected some unwanted pests from my garden last night, see picture above. These are the few that I bagged, the others were anatomically altered and had their heads pinched off before being discarded. They were here last year and went unnoticed until too much destruction was done. I’ve been waiting for them to reappear this year and hope to get a jump on them before they do too much damage and reproducing.

The little green caterpillars are pure destruction and called “Imported Cabbage Worm” because some time in the mid-1800’s they were transported from Europe to Canada, and have spread all through North America since then. They’re an invasive species, of course.

Some might ask why I’m concerned with cabbage worms since I’m not growing any cabbage but rather broccoli and kale. Although they appear very different, kale, broccoli, kohlrabi, cauliflower, cabbage and Brussels sprouts are all the same species of plant.

The beetles are Colorado potato beetles. They’re serious crop pests of potatoes but may also cause serious damage to tomatoes and eggplants. These pests are more difficult to catch since they can fly. However, their eggs are easy to spot, which are typically laid on the underside of the plant leaves in clusters, and easy to destroy.