Well the Bumble bee has a partner this year and with the Melon vines I
now see syrphid flies.
Is there a good way to attract the hoverers? Are they pollen gatherers
or Nectar eaters?
There a perfect match for my melon and tomato plants.

Cheers

Martin Riddle wrote:

Well the Bumble bee has a partner this year and with the Melon vines I
now see syrphid flies.
Is there a good way to attract the hoverers? Are they pollen gatherers
or Nectar eaters?
There a perfect match for my melon and tomato plants.

if you're talking about what i
think you are talking about
(hummingbird moths and other
hovering moths) these could
be the parent of the tomato
hornworm or the tobacco
hornworm. i.e. they will eat
nectar and lay eggs on your
plants which then will get
hatch and eat the leaves. so
watch out for the eggs/worms
and pick them off your tomatoes
if you really want a crop. they
can do a lot of eating in a very
short period of time...

squash have enough leaves
you might want to sacrifice a
half dozen to the worms, but
i'd still be leery of letting them
go hog wild as that could impact
your harvest.


songbird

In article ,
"songbird" wrote:

Martin Riddle wrote:

Well the Bumble bee has a partner this year and with the Melon vines I
now see syrphid flies.
Is there a good way to attract the hoverers? Are they pollen gatherers
or Nectar eaters?
There a perfect match for my melon and tomato plants.

if you're talking about what i
think you are talking about
(hummingbird moths and other
hovering moths) these could
be the parent of the tomato
hornworm or the tobacco
hornworm. i.e. they will eat
nectar and lay eggs on your
plants which then will get
hatch and eat the leaves. so
watch out for the eggs/worms
and pick them off your tomatoes
if you really want a crop. they
can do a lot of eating in a very
short period of time...

squash have enough leaves
you might want to sacrifice a
half dozen to the worms, but
i'd still be leery of letting them
go hog wild as that could impact
your harvest.


songbird

Do you know how to google "syrphid fly, pic"?
Then you would know what you are talking about.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoverfly
--
- Billy
"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the
merger of state and corporate power." - Benito Mussolini.
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/7/2/maude
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/6/2...al_crime_scene

Billy wrote:
....
Do you know how to google "syrphid fly, pic"?
Then you would know what you are talking about.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoverfly

Billy, we have had this conversation
before. i sometimes write replies when i
am offline so i cannot look things up.

my memory being what it is i took
hover and sy and confused them with
sphynx which is how i've always
misspelled it.

now that i am online, yes i could
look and see that it is a different
creature being talked about than
what i imagined. funny that, in
world of billions i could get
some wrong.

usenet is the means of conversation
and interaction, a usenet newgroup,
if you want a moderated forum
where you can only read items from
"authorities" then this ain't it.

i'll admit i was wrong.

yesterday i made chicken soup
from a roasted chicken brought to
us from the neighbors who raise
them. and a three bean salad from
fresh beans from the garden. it will
be a surprise for the management
when she returns.

this after taking some beans to
another neighbor who cannot
garden any longer, but she was
nice enough to feed me some
strawberry shortcake and have
tea and talk for a few hours in
the hot part of the day.

today i should get out and
get some rhubarb and make
another round of sauce since
i've finished off the last batch.
so, time to go, have a nice
day.

peace,


songbird