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A plague of plagues?
Hi,
earlier in the year (and still, to some extent) we had a plague of greenfly. The leaves on the plums and apples were solid underneath with green sucking things. Last weekend we were suddenly covered in ladybirds - just everywhere. Presumably a sign that the first generation did well off the greenfly crop and bred like good little predators with a super abundance of prey. Glad to see them, sorry there were so many on the lawn - hope they compost/mulch down well. This morning the air is full of (I think) hoverflies. These look like semi-transparent wasps. It almost looks like snow blowing horizontally, there are so many. Sounds like it is raining when you go under our garden tenty thing - all the flies bashing against the material from underneath. Slightly worrying that they all seem to be heading West in a steady stream - where are they coming from and where are they going? So that is 3 plagues so far - do we have another 4 to go? Slightly worried about my firstborn son now (well, more so than the usual worries about unemployment, lack of money, ability to do nothing until 22:00 when he suddenly comes alive and starts cooking.....bloody graduates). Anyone seen Nostrodamus around recently, I've got a couple of questions. Cheers Dave R -- |
A plague of plagues?
David W.E. Roberts wrote:
Hi, earlier in the year (and still, to some extent) we had a plague of greenfly. The leaves on the plums and apples were solid underneath with green sucking things. Know the feeling, never seen as many! Last weekend we were suddenly covered in ladybirds - just everywhere. Presumably a sign that the first generation did well off the greenfly crop and bred like good little predators with a super abundance of prey. Glad to see them, sorry there were so many on the lawn - hope they compost/mulch down well. I had lots of ladybirds earlier in the year, but they dissapeared to be replaced by black wnd white fly over everything. This morning the air is full of (I think) hoverflies. These look like semi-transparent wasps. It almost looks like snow blowing horizontally, Well, I've just come in from the garden, after being amazed at how many there were - thousands of them. Lots of butterflies too, only white ones though. Do they eat white and blackfly, I've noticed that over the last few days, they are much reduced. I was thinking the soapy water and squishing them was gradually working, but maybe the hoverflies are having a feast! So that is 3 plagues so far - do we have another 4 to go? Slightly worried about my firstborn son now (well, more so than the usual worries about unemployment, lack of money, ability to do nothing until 22:00 when he suddenly comes alive and starts cooking.....bloody graduates). Also looking for a job and broke as well! Anyone seen Nostrodamus around recently, I've got a couple of questions. If you see him, I've a couple as well! -- Regards, Charles Unobfuscate to reply by mail vnews a in a ring cthorpe roundblob ukfsn anotherblob org "I really cannot tolerate intolerance" |
A plague of plagues?
David W.E. Roberts wrote:
Hi, earlier in the year (and still, to some extent) we had a plague of greenfly. The leaves on the plums and apples were solid underneath with green sucking things. Know the feeling, never seen as many! Last weekend we were suddenly covered in ladybirds - just everywhere. Presumably a sign that the first generation did well off the greenfly crop and bred like good little predators with a super abundance of prey. Glad to see them, sorry there were so many on the lawn - hope they compost/mulch down well. I had lots of ladybirds earlier in the year, but they dissapeared to be replaced by black wnd white fly over everything. This morning the air is full of (I think) hoverflies. These look like semi-transparent wasps. It almost looks like snow blowing horizontally, Well, I've just come in from the garden, after being amazed at how many there were - thousands of them. Lots of butterflies too, only white ones though. Do they eat white and blackfly, I've noticed that over the last few days, they are much reduced. I was thinking the soapy water and squishing them was gradually working, but maybe the hoverflies are having a feast! So that is 3 plagues so far - do we have another 4 to go? Slightly worried about my firstborn son now (well, more so than the usual worries about unemployment, lack of money, ability to do nothing until 22:00 when he suddenly comes alive and starts cooking.....bloody graduates). Also looking for a job and broke as well! Anyone seen Nostrodamus around recently, I've got a couple of questions. If you see him, I've a couple as well! -- Regards, Charles Unobfuscate to reply by mail vnews a in a ring cthorpe roundblob ukfsn anotherblob org "I really cannot tolerate intolerance" |
A plague of plagues?
"Charles Thorpe" wrote in message ... David W.E. Roberts wrote: snip This morning the air is full of (I think) hoverflies. These look like semi-transparent wasps. It almost looks like snow blowing horizontally, Well, I've just come in from the garden, after being amazed at how many there were - thousands of them. Lots of butterflies too, only white ones though. Do they eat white and blackfly, I've noticed that over the last few days, they are much reduced. I was thinking the soapy water and squishing them was gradually working, but maybe the hoverflies are having a feast! snip Good point - I wonder what they do feed on? Whatever it is, there had better be a lot of it! |
A plague of plagues?
"Charles Thorpe" wrote in message ... David W.E. Roberts wrote: snip This morning the air is full of (I think) hoverflies. These look like semi-transparent wasps. It almost looks like snow blowing horizontally, Well, I've just come in from the garden, after being amazed at how many there were - thousands of them. Lots of butterflies too, only white ones though. Do they eat white and blackfly, I've noticed that over the last few days, they are much reduced. I was thinking the soapy water and squishing them was gradually working, but maybe the hoverflies are having a feast! snip Good point - I wonder what they do feed on? Whatever it is, there had better be a lot of it! |
A plague of plagues?
"David W.E. Roberts" wrote in message ... Hi, earlier in the year (and still, to some extent) we had a plague of greenfly. The leaves on the plums and apples were solid underneath with green sucking things. Last weekend we were suddenly covered in ladybirds - just everywhere. Presumably a sign that the first generation did well off the greenfly crop and bred like good little predators with a super abundance of prey. Glad to see them, sorry there were so many on the lawn - hope they compost/mulch down well. This morning the air is full of (I think) hoverflies. These look like semi-transparent wasps. It almost looks like snow blowing horizontally, there are so many. Sounds like it is raining when you go under our garden tenty thing - all the flies bashing against the material from underneath. Slightly worrying that they all seem to be heading West in a steady stream - where are they coming from and where are they going? The larvae of the hoverfly eat aphids. For years my Pyracantha was covered with aphids, the leaves would go black and fall off. Last year it was covered with hoverflies and clear of aphids. This year is the best its ever looked. My garden is swarming with hoverflies and not an aphid to be seen. -- Regards, Alan. Preserve wildlife - Pickle a SQUIRREL to reply. |
A plague of plagues?
"David W.E. Roberts" wrote in message ... Hi, earlier in the year (and still, to some extent) we had a plague of greenfly. The leaves on the plums and apples were solid underneath with green sucking things. Last weekend we were suddenly covered in ladybirds - just everywhere. Presumably a sign that the first generation did well off the greenfly crop and bred like good little predators with a super abundance of prey. Glad to see them, sorry there were so many on the lawn - hope they compost/mulch down well. This morning the air is full of (I think) hoverflies. These look like semi-transparent wasps. It almost looks like snow blowing horizontally, there are so many. Sounds like it is raining when you go under our garden tenty thing - all the flies bashing against the material from underneath. Slightly worrying that they all seem to be heading West in a steady stream - where are they coming from and where are they going? The larvae of the hoverfly eat aphids. For years my Pyracantha was covered with aphids, the leaves would go black and fall off. Last year it was covered with hoverflies and clear of aphids. This year is the best its ever looked. My garden is swarming with hoverflies and not an aphid to be seen. -- Regards, Alan. Preserve wildlife - Pickle a SQUIRREL to reply. |
A plague of plagues? - imported?
"David W.E. Roberts" wrote in message ... Hi, snip This morning the air is full of (I think) hoverflies. These look like semi-transparent wasps. It almost looks like snow blowing horizontally, there are so many. Sounds like it is raining when you go under our garden tenty thing - all the flies bashing against the material from underneath. Slightly worrying that they all seem to be heading West in a steady stream - where are they coming from and where are they going? snip According to the local news they all blew in from the Continent. Never seen anything like it before in Walton on the Naze. Children screaming, women fainting, strong men turning pale then all of them going home again without spending money. Were the local tradespeople choked? Too right. |
A plague of plagues? - imported?
"David W.E. Roberts" wrote in message ... Hi, snip This morning the air is full of (I think) hoverflies. These look like semi-transparent wasps. It almost looks like snow blowing horizontally, there are so many. Sounds like it is raining when you go under our garden tenty thing - all the flies bashing against the material from underneath. Slightly worrying that they all seem to be heading West in a steady stream - where are they coming from and where are they going? snip According to the local news they all blew in from the Continent. Never seen anything like it before in Walton on the Naze. Children screaming, women fainting, strong men turning pale then all of them going home again without spending money. Were the local tradespeople choked? Too right. |
A plague of plagues? - imported?
wrote in message ... On Mon, 2 Aug 2004 13:11:05 +0100, "David W.E. Roberts" wrote: "David W.E. Roberts" wrote in message ... Hi, snip This morning the air is full of (I think) hoverflies. These look like semi-transparent wasps. It almost looks like snow blowing horizontally, there are so many. Sounds like it is raining when you go under our garden tenty thing - all the flies bashing against the material from underneath. Slightly worrying that they all seem to be heading West in a steady stream - where are they coming from and where are they going? snip According to the local news they all blew in from the Continent. Which one? In the Netherlands the wind has been north - north westerly for days and besides there isn't a plague of hover flies here. The IJsselmeer was covered in a carpet of dead greenfly in places last weekend. Do you think they are the remains of a hover fly binge? It is no good trying to hide behind statistics. We all know it is your fault :-) The local flow here seemed to be east to west, but then you usually get onshore winds during the day. Perhaps they swarm offshore at night from Belgium and the Netherlands then catch the onshore winds in the morning for the east coast UK. I blame the EEC and lack of border controls :-) |
A plague of plagues? - imported?
wrote in message ... On Mon, 2 Aug 2004 13:11:05 +0100, "David W.E. Roberts" wrote: "David W.E. Roberts" wrote in message ... Hi, snip This morning the air is full of (I think) hoverflies. These look like semi-transparent wasps. It almost looks like snow blowing horizontally, there are so many. Sounds like it is raining when you go under our garden tenty thing - all the flies bashing against the material from underneath. Slightly worrying that they all seem to be heading West in a steady stream - where are they coming from and where are they going? snip According to the local news they all blew in from the Continent. Which one? In the Netherlands the wind has been north - north westerly for days and besides there isn't a plague of hover flies here. The IJsselmeer was covered in a carpet of dead greenfly in places last weekend. Do you think they are the remains of a hover fly binge? It is no good trying to hide behind statistics. We all know it is your fault :-) The local flow here seemed to be east to west, but then you usually get onshore winds during the day. Perhaps they swarm offshore at night from Belgium and the Netherlands then catch the onshore winds in the morning for the east coast UK. I blame the EEC and lack of border controls :-) |
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