Terrorists !!!!

We have all had problems with White Fly, Red Spider Mite and the dreaded Hawk Moth Caterpillar but I have had trouble lately with two new pests namely the Snout Beetle and the Earwig. Both these little "terrorists" chew the leaves at night, particularly of young plants and nothing seems to kill them. I think this beetle is also called the Vine Weevil. One of our members was telling me today that he has also had similar problems - your comments are welcome.

The Snout Beetle is tiny and has six legs and two feelers from a pointed snout This picture is from the following website the only difference to the one in my garden is that my one seems to have a light coloured line down the middle of the back. For more info go to :

http://www.gov.on.ca/OMAFRA/english/crops/facts/94-025.htm

PS   Since first writing about the Snout Beetle some members have queried whether this creature is the same as the Vine Weevil referred to in overseas books and even if it is found in South Africa. I took one of them to the South African Museum (insect dept.) for identification, they have told me the name is Ellimenistes.(see report below).

I have been through our collection and have I.D'd your beetle to the
following:
Family:      Curculionidae
Subfamily:  Entiminae
Tribe:         Oosomini
Genus:       Ellimenistes sp.

Most weevils are called "Snout beetles" and the "Vine beetle" is of the
following genera:
Bustomus, Cryptolarynx, Phlyctinus, Otiorhyncus, Eremnus, Tanrhyncus.  These
weevils seem to lay their eggs in the soil then the adults crawls up the
stems or vines leaving the larvae to feed off the roots in the soil.

Not too much is known on the biology of weevils but it seems most adults are
plant feeders and the larvae on the root system.

The weevil you have seems to lay its eggs in the stems of plants such as
coffee, garden flowers, etc.

I hope this helps you in some way.
Kind regards
Dawn Larsen

Dawn Larsen
Assist. Collections Manager
Iziko Museums of Cape Town
South African Museum
Entomology Dept.
P O Box 61
Cape Town.
8000

Phone: 021x481-3867
Fax:    021x481-3993
Email:  dlarsen@iziko.org.za

I really would like to know if other growers have had trouble with this pest and whether you agree with the above identification.

This  picture shows the extensive damage done to one of my plants by one of these creatures.  Note how it has shaved the stems and eaten all the leaves, I cannot however find evidence of eggs being laid in the stems. 17/04/05 This plant has now died.

The Earwig is also small and also chews leaves More info and pictures go to

http://www.ivyhall.district96.k12.il.us/4th/kkhp/1insects/earwig.html

2007 Another pest has reared its head in my garden this year called the Stink Bug or Tipwilter or Shield Bug, about the size of a man's thumb nail he nips the tips of the branches so that when you come to look at your plants all you see are sad looking end branches all wilted and dying. Spraying does not help so you cut them in half with your clippers only to be assailed by a foul smell and a young grandson shouting "look Gran the front half is running in a different direction to the back half" --- little sadist!!!

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Those were the days.

A conversation with our founder, Mrs Bunty Milton, always yields something of interest whether it is about her life in general or her favourite subject - Fuchsias. While visiting her recently she brought out two catalogues from a specialist Fuchsia nursery in the Transvaal (for our overseas visitors the Transvaal is north of where we are and is now known as Gauteng) one dated 1975/76, the other 1977/78. They make interesting reading for example they say "the nursery now has over 200 varieties in stock, many of which are still being tested for adaptability to South African conditions". We are now able to say that there is a CD out that shows 17000  named Fuchsias many of which are available in SA. Turn the page and you see the prices - individual plants at 35 cents each and packs at R4.50 for 12 plants.

For those reading this in other countries you will not be amazed that these plants could be mail ordered and railed anywhere in the country - this just does not happen in SA anymore.

Some names on the lists are old favourites such as Billy Green, Sleigh Bells, Voodoo and Winston Churchill.

Those were the days.

Good News: I hear that Beth Middleton is working on a mail order system.

For those in SA who don't know Beth she has a large nursery in Gauteng and imports regularly.

Watch this space.

25th ANNIVERSARY

2007 saw us celebrate 25 years as a society growing Fuchsias. Our main function was a luncheon on the 11th August the exact date that the first meeting was held. We were lucky to have our founder Bunty Milton there who gave us a short summary of the "old" days   Also there from the early days was Margaret Hildick and Jan Meynell