Jeff's Cooties

Last Wednesday our Horticulturist, Jeff Leonard, received a walkie-talkie call from the reception desk. "Jeff, your cooties are here." For anyone overhearing this conversation and wondering - Jeff's "cooties" are, in fact, "beneficial insects." About once or twice a year Jeff orders "bennies" as he calls them, to keep control of aphid, scale, mealybugs and other harmful pests on the plants in the Tropical Butterfly House. This spring's shipment contained four different species. Encarsia formosa is a parasatoidal wasp that attacks aphids, white flies, and other small pests. The eggs arrive on small tags that are hung around the limbs of the infected plant. When the eggs hatch, there is a banquet waiting for them.

Lindorus lopanthae, black lady beetles are scale slayers. These bennies arrive in small vials and are carefully placed on the plants near contaminated sites. The bugs get to work immediately upon release!Cryptolaemus montrouzieri are better known as mealybug destroyers. They are similar to ladybugs but smaller - less likely to leave with visitors.

Chrysoperla rufilabris, green lacewings are probably most recognizable as adults. These beneficial insects arrive as ravenous larvae in cardboard combs which are tapped onto aphid infested plants. If you could see them close-up (which is hard to do because when they arrive they’re less than 1mm and grow to 6-8mm), you'd see the pinchers they use to suck the body fluids from their prey.

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Controlling plant pests with beneficial insects means that our horticulture staff doesn’t have to use chemical pesticides or invasive processes in our Tropical Butterfly House. The butterflies are happy, the plants are happy and the “cooties” are happy!

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Want to learn more? Check out our supplier's website and blog:

http://www.rinconvitova.com/