Our participants had a good time at our workshop on garden insects and diseases!  Seth Whitehouse, our presenter, is the Anderson County UT Extension- County Director and Agricultural Agent, and his classes are always a lot of fun.  

  

Topics that were covered in the class included:

• Common fungal, bacterial, and viral diseases 

symptoms in the garden

• How these diseases are spread

• Management of these diseases

• Types of common garden insects

• How to promote beneficial insects

• Integrated Pest Management

Seth also brought an assortment of garden bugs for us to look at!

Ground Beetles

The Ground Beetle  is considered beneficial in its adult and larvae state.  It is a predatory beetle that eats a wide range of harmful insects, including caterpillars, slugs, weevils, and silverfish.  

Assassin Bugs

Assassin bugs are very creepy looking critters.  These large predators consume many different types of garden pests.  There are over 150 species of assassin bugs in North America alone. 

Robber flies

These friendly flies are very effective bug-eating machines. Although they resemble horseflies, they do not try to bite humans.  Instead, they go after a number of common garden pests.  

Parasitic wasps

Parasitic wasps are actually not a parasite. They are, instead, a predator that kills aphids, their pray by using them as incubators for their eggs.    

Bumblebees

Bumble bees pollinate plants out in nature, helping to keep our ecosystems healthy, but they are also commercially valuable as pollinators of many crops.  They are considered to actually be better pollinators than Honeybees.

Honeybee

Honey bees are highly efficient pollinators of our food crops as well as for wild flora. In addition to producing honey, honeybees pollinate   more than 100 types of fruits, nuts, and vegetables.

Our participants also received their garden tools!