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Garden Insects & Pest
I
f you keep your eyes open and start paying attention to what's in and around the garden you'll be amazed at the various insect life you might find. Some insects certainly are not as welcome as others when they feed on flowers and foliage or transmit disease to healthy plants. But most are an integral part of the unique environment in which they live whether they feed on other insects or dine on your plants.

To help you identify some of the insects that can be found in and around Tucson gardens names and photographs of some of the most common insects are posted here. 

Aphids - usually found on the underside of the leaves or on the tips of new growth.

Aphids.
 

 Swallowtail butterfly.

Swallowtail butterfly.

Note the Swallowtail egg near the end of the citrus leaf near the center of the photograph.

Butterfly egg on a citrus leaf.

Hard to believe this face will turn into a Swallowtail butterfly if it survives. Caterpillar looks like a bird dropping and feeds on young citrus leaves.

Cute is in the eye of the beholder.
   

Praying Mantis.

Praying mantis.

The Mantis is a clever hunter waiting patiently to catch its prey like this butterfly. The body was eaten and the wings left behind.

Praying mantis dining on its prey.

Sometimes when the male mantis breeds with the female she turns and bites the male's head off and later eats the dead male.

Mantis love.

Mantis egg casing.

Mantid egg casing.
   

Slug - this one came from a plant purchased at a nursery. It's a garden pest, but not an insect. Like its relative the snail it's a mollusk.

Slug.

Garden snails often get introduced to the Tucson garden when you bring home new plants from the nursery.

Snail.
   

Tarantula
Aphonopelma chalcodes

Tarantula.
  Tarantula.

Tarantula Hawk.

Tarantula hawk.
 

Tarantula Hawk vs Tarantula photos.

   

Black widow spider. Has telltale red hourglass on the underside.

Black widow spider.
   

Hornworm. Out of its natural environment a hornworm is easy to see.

Tomato hornworm.

Feeding on the branches of a tomato plant the hornworm is well camouflaged.

Tomato hornworm.

Hornworm pupa found in the soil.

Hornworm pupa that matures in the soil before becoming a moth.

Hornworms become one of the fast moving  Sphinx moths.

Sphinx moth.
   

Squash borer eats the center out of squash plant stems causing the plants to wilt.

Summer squash borer eating its way through a vine.

Green loopers can do considerable damage to plant leaves and leave unsightly droppings behind.

Green looper can  make short work of leaves.

More Insects & Pests

Animals           Birds


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