Your Friend the Big Eyed Bug

“What big EYES you have!” said the little caterpillar.  “The better to SEE you with, my dear” replied Geocorsis.

“What a big BEAK you have!” said the little caterpillar.  “The better to EAT you with” replied Geocorsis.

Big eyed bugs litterally have big, wide set eyes and include around 19 species that inhabit North America (the most common are G. punctipes, G. pallens, G. bullatus, and G. uliginosus).  They are usually fairly small in size (1/6 of an inch or less) are black, grey, or tan in color, and also occur all around the world. There is no pupa stage (incomplete metamorphosis) and they take about 30 days to develop from egg to nymph to adult.

Species of Geocorsis have been shown to be effective predators of aphids, spider mites, cabbage loopers, flea beetles, bollworm, pink bollworm, tobacco budworm, whiteflies, and other crop damaging insects, and larvae.  Both the nymph (wingless) and adult insects are predaceous, but can survive on nectar and honeydew when prey is scare.  Big Eyed Bugs are considered to be the most beneficial insect for cotton crops.

 

For more info:

http://www.biocontrol.entomology.cornell.edu/predators/Geocoris.html

http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/creatures/beneficial/bigeyed_bugs.htm

http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/NE/bigeyed_bugs.html

To find local food in your area and farms that promote the use of beneficial insects, check out Pick-A-Pepper.com!

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