September 25, 2014

Good morning, I like looking at taxonomic keys and any other identification book, just to browse through it. I especially scan over the pictures. When I was an avid birder, this practice really helped me especially if I knew where I would be going to bird. This would prepare my eyes for what to expect.

I heard a customer once say “ it is hard to gamely pursue fishing while you are gamely employed”. This is such a true statement for many things, since becoming a full time gardener I no longer do very many birding trips. But scanning ID books for the garden can be equally rewarding.

Recently I was looking at some ID pictures of cut worms. Most books have just the picture of the larval stage of the “cutworm” moth. The caterpillar stage is the destructive stage for this moth. This is true with all moths and butterflies. Well anyway this book as if to say” oh and by the way, this is a picture of the adult stage!”. The lights came on! How many times have you been reading in bed and along comes this drab colored moth and starts fluttering around the light, just being a huge distraction and annoyance. This is the adult stage of the cut worm! Granted most of these guys full lives are spent in locations that cause no harm but oh what they can do to young seedlings!

I have noticed the adults wrapped up in my fabric or just sitting on the leaves of plants in the garden. I do plan on taking a different approach. Like with grasshoppers, click beetles and various other chewing insects that I find as I am working beds, these moths too will be dispatched on sight. Just think of the number of eggs that will never be laid.

So yes looking through ID books can be very enlightening. It can prepare your eyes for scanning the garden for just a fleeting glimpse of a would be predator or even the good guys to leave alone.