Category Archives: Hands-on

Harlequin failure

After two weeks of waiting and checking on tiny mice it would appear that my attempt to initiate a bio control program using harlequin ladybirds has been a failure. The aphids are still high in numbers and happily feeding. Also … Continue reading

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The time for waiting is over!

Over the past few months I’ve been coming in at ten day intervals to take counts of pests. Each week something has changed and the display is really coming together nicely. Along side these changes I’ve also seen how remarkably … Continue reading

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Biological control – the common toad

Common toads (Bufo bufo) are frequent on our campus and one or two have a home in the tropical greenhouse.  They are fairly shy creatures that tend to hide under objects during the day and come out at night. The … Continue reading

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Whitefly and Parasitoid wasps

Whiteflies, of the family Aleyrudidae, are insects that belong to the same order as Aphids, Hemiptera. These small bugs are about 1-2mm long in adult form, with two pairs of white wings. Most of their time is spent on the … Continue reading

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Pest Update

Things have developed quite a bit since the last time I sampled. Expecting to see a few aphids on the Okra and surrounding plants I was shocked to find loads of mealy bug all over everything!? Well maybe not over … Continue reading

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Aphids and…reproduction

Aphids- of the superfamily Aphidoidea- are insects that have caused a great level of destruction and fretting to many a gardeners efforts. Alternatively we can view them as a highly successful, intriguing group of organisms. An interesting aspect of aphids is that they have a great … Continue reading

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Water Hyacinth

Water Hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) is a floating plant that can be used to clean up water by accumulation of toxic metals and by capturing free nutrients from the water. In good conditions it grows very rapidly and can clog river systems … Continue reading

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3000 litres of rainwater fill the pond

This gallery contains 4 photos.

Over the past week the pond has been lined and filled with around 3000 litres of rainwater.  It took two days to fill the pond by pumping water from the rainwater tank in the glasshouse next door.The pond base is … Continue reading

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Chaenostoma cordatum

Today, while Sam was investigating pests in the tropical glasshouse he noted that the plant of Chaenostoma cordatum ‘Copia Great Purple’ was suffering from both whitefly and thrips while plants around it were free of both. 

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Pests!

Good afternoon web-browsers. As this is my first post I feel it necessary to introduce myself. My name is Samuel Hickling and I shall be working for Dr.Culham on the final year project of a Zoology BSc. My given task … Continue reading

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