Son planted a heap of sweat peas they have spread all over a garden
fence and are a riot of colour. Thing is they seem to be positively
infested by thousands of Hoverflies. Can an infestation like this
damage sweet peas (their is a Rose in the same ground) or will they die
of when the sweet peas do?
Found some small caterpillar/maggot things on leaves do not know if
they are Hoverfly larvae or from cabbage whites so sprayed with "bug
off" and the caterpillar/maggots seem to have died of but this spraying
doesn't seem to have affected the adults either in numbers or proximity
to these sweetpeas.

soup wrote:
Son planted a heap of sweat peas they have spread all over a garden
fence and are a riot of colour. Thing is they seem to be positively
infested by thousands of Hoverflies. Can an infestation like this
damage sweet peas (their is a Rose in the same ground) or will they die
of when the sweet peas do?
Found some small caterpillar/maggot things on leaves do not know if
they are Hoverfly larvae or from cabbage whites so sprayed with "bug
off" and the caterpillar/maggots seem to have died of but this spraying
doesn't seem to have affected the adults either in numbers or proximity
to these sweetpeas.

Hello,
I noticed exactly the same thing on my Sweet Peas edge, but I was rather
pleased: I think Hoverflies larvae are great natural enemies of aphids
and other pests! (others might confirm...)
Having said that, the other day, I left a window open in front of a
white curtain and suddenly the room was invaded by hundreds of them!
Gogo

gogo wrote:
I think Hoverflies larvae are great natural enemies of aphids
and other pests! (others might confirm...)

Yes, they are. Killing them off isn't in the interests of the gardener.
I think it is what the military call "friendly fire!"

soup writes
Son planted a heap of sweat peas they have spread all over a garden
fence and are a riot of colour. Thing is they seem to be positively
infested by thousands of Hoverflies. Can an infestation like this
damage sweet peas (their is a Rose in the same ground) or will they die
of when the sweet peas do?

No. They're visiting for the pollen. While you don't need your sweet
peas to be pollinated (since you're after flowers not seeds), with the
decline of honey bees it's important to encourage as many other
pollinators as possible. Several species of hoverfly have larvae which
each aphids (greenfly), so on both counts they are valuable insects to
have in the garden.

Found some small caterpillar/maggot things on leaves do not know if
they are Hoverfly larvae or from cabbage whites

Cabbage whites do what they say - the caterpillars feed on cabbages and
related plants.

I've not known sweet peas to be particularly damaged by pests. I tend
not to take action unless I can see that severe damage is being caused.
The trouble with any spray is that you tend to kill off the 'good'
(predator) creatures as well as the sap sucking ones, which means the
problem tends to return fairly quickly, since there are now no predators
to keep numbers down.

so sprayed with "bug off" and the caterpillar/maggots seem to have died
of but this spraying doesn't seem to have affected the adults either in
numbers or proximity to these sweetpeas.

Very fortunate, bearing in mind what I said above! Although it almost
certainly did kill the one in the proximity at the time - what you have
is new ones flying in from elsewhere.

Hoverflies don't sting, so they're not a problem in that sense. And they
don't fly into your food, so if you can get used to them, it's worth
doing.
--
Kay

soup wrote:
Son planted a heap of sweat peas they have spread all over a garden
fence and are a riot of colour. Thing is they seem to be positively
infested by thousands of Hoverflies. Can an infestation like this
damage sweet peas (their is a Rose in the same ground) or will they die
of when the sweet peas do?
Found some small caterpillar/maggot things on leaves do not know if
they are Hoverfly larvae or from cabbage whites so sprayed with "bug
off" and the caterpillar/maggots seem to have died of but this spraying
doesn't seem to have affected the adults either in numbers or proximity
to these sweetpeas.

Thanks all. So just leave these flies be. The caterpillar/maggot
things seemed to be eating the green of the leaves which was incredibly
unsightly (I have no idea if this was actually damaging the plant(s)).
Can remember from previous years (well last year) that there is an
ant colony 'near by' as I seem to remember them crawling about stems
about all I can remember about some ants (don't know if these are the
same species) is that they 'farm' aphids to 'milk' them. Could the
plants be collateral damage in a war between the ants and the hoverflies
or am I overthinking this whole thing?

Certainly getting to know a lot more about the 'minibeasts' in gardens.
Did you know that slaters/woodlice were cousins to prawns (they have
gills which is part of the reason they like it moist)and can in extremis
(survival situation) be eaten. Clipshears/earwigs are carnivorous and
the devil's coach horse (which looks a bit like a giant
earwig/clipshear) is covered in a yuckky tasting, to birds
etc,(poisonous?) coating.

your garden will be a lot less bother with a hover!

benjiboy wrote:
your garden will be a lot less bother with a hover!

To be honest it's not really mine it is the youngest's. He is not too
hot at making decisions/sticking to a plan (he requires lots of
attention, special school all that) so daddy gets roped in a lot to make
decisions etc.

"soup" wrote in message
om...

Son planted a heap of sweat peas

I really don't want to smell "sweat peas"

Tom

Tom wrote:
"soup" wrote in message
om...

Son planted a heap of sweat peas

I really don't want to smell "sweat peas"

Mm typo. How very dare I. I shall immediately flagellate myself.

Alan Johnson wrote:

Send us the pictures...


http://www.cfpeople.org/military/031...3422650455.jpg