Minute pirate bugs from Arbico Organics

[My Green Pets]

Hey just a feeler thread to see if anyone has had success introducing these or other predatory bugs into their collections, or otherwise has experience ordering from this company.

From their website: "Minute Pirate Bugs, Orius insidiosus, also known as flower bugs, are one of the most common general predators in field crops. Emerging early in the spring, their diet consists of a variety of small pests. They particularly love to eat thrips and are known to attack the adult thrips; you may even see them from time to time with thrips stuck on their rostrum.

Release Orius indoors or out. Minute Pirate Bugs reproduce quickly, completing a total life cycle in just 3-4 weeks, making them effective at handling serious infestations quickly. Adults lay their eggs within available plant tissue. Nymphs emerge after 4-5 days and they become adults in 7-10 days. Minute Pirate Bugs will move efficiently throughout the infested plants, and will continue to kill even when they do not need to eat. Be sure to leave suitable habitat for them to overwinter as they will establish in most locations quite well."

Here is the product link

[SouthPark]

The only problem with these organisms is that once they run out of their natural prey to eat, they'll then prey on humans and pets. Only kidding of course. They sound great. Will have to do some online reading about these potentially beneficial organisms. I like their name too.

[My Green Pets]

The only thing I'm finding that could be a big drawback is that they have a painful bite if you happen to get one on you. As I like to pick up my plants and inspect them regularly, I would not be happy to feel that painful sting on my hand or arm. However, I wouldn't be opposed to having a dedicated pair of kitchen gloves to handle my plants.

The fact that they track down and kill a number of those tiny, hard to eradicate pests like mites and thrips, is a very attractive prospect.

[Leafmite]

I was going to mention the painful bite. I think introducing them to your area is just not worth it. Try the native lady bug larvae instead. I usually have a couple of lady bug larvae/eggs that come inside with the plants and have lady bugs and larvae on my plants all winter. They don't keep the plants immaculate but they usually do a decent job keeping things under control until about late March/April. When I put the plants outside, I order 300 more lady bugs to release on my plants. They lay eggs before flying away.

If you grow in the home, Insect Lore and other companies that sell kits for children can be a good source of just a few larvae. You can find mosquito netting on Amazon. I have never had to cover my shelves, though, as the bugs usually stay with the plants pretty well (if you have too many lady bugs, though, they do want to leave. Lady bugs and pirate bugs naturally want to spread out because the larvae sometimes cannibalize other larvae.)

[camille1585]

What pests are you targeting? Is this an indoor greenhouse environment, or in your house? There are many other beneficial insect species which could be used, depending on your specific circumstances.

[estación seca]

Leafhoppers (psyllids) sometimes bite me when I'm gardening outside. I wouldn't want to find out how something called "insidiosus" bites.

[My Green Pets]

Camille, it's a 3.5 m3 grow tent in my apartment. I have spider mites as well as some other very small unknown insects (<3 mm) that I have found in a few different places on my plants. I am also looking at predatory mites but not sure which kind to get.

Originally Posted by camille1585

What pests are you targeting? Is this an indoor greenhouse environment, or in your house? There are many other beneficial insect species which could be used, depending on your specific circumstances.

[Leafmite]

For predatory mites, if you are uncertain, take a picture of what you have, call the company selling the mites and ask if you can email the picture to them for help. A good company should then recommend the correct mite for you.

Lady bugs eat mites. As you might notice, I am a big fan of lady bugs.

[WaterWitchin]

We buy lots of product from Arbico Organics, including an every three weeks package of parasitic wasps for fly control. (We have horses) These wasps are tiny and don't sting by the way.

Personally would never put anything in my living areas that sting, inside or common areas outside. There are too many different ways one can control bugs. Target the pests you want to control, then read about their control on the Arbico website. There's tons of information about both live predatory bugs, and organics.