Terry Coombs wrote:
While checking things out in the garden yesterday , I found 2 kinds
of bugs on some of my tomato leaves . The small pear-shaped green
ones are aphids , but I can't find any info on the other one . At
first glance they look like tiny pieces of white thread about 1/16"
long . Under a magnifier they're tiny little bugs that kinda-sorta
have a resemblance to a praying mantis . I powdered the entire
tomato patch with DiPel , a BT based product , making sure I covered
both top and bottom of the leaves . Hopefully this will control
whatever it is . If it's a predator bug , it shouldn't be harmed
since it won't be eating the leaves ...

I think this was a waste of time as BT specifically attacks the lining if
the gut of insect larvae (grubs and caterpillars) who eat it. This is why
it is generally safe for predatory insect and miscellaneous other living
things as either it doesn't attack their gut or they don't eat it. Aphids
don't eat the leaves as they are sap-suckers, the BT is non-systemic so it
sits on the outside and doesn't get into the sap. For aphids you can hose
them off, they cannot climb back up to the top of the plant where the soft
shoots and buds are. Or use one of the milder contact sprays like
pyrethrum.

D