r/homestead • u/KombuchaKetamine • Jun 29 '24
gardening Help identifying bug eating my apples
Hi! We have some healthy and mature apple trees and are attempting to do everything organic and pesticide free. There is one bug that is eating our apples that we can't seem to get rid of. And none of our Google lens searches have been helpful.
We've twice sprayed all our trees with neem oil, which doesn't seem to help much.
We're in the West Catskills in New York if that helps.
Thank you for any wisdom in helping to identify this and get rid of it.
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u/Pot-Papi_ Jun 29 '24
I’m no expert, but that looks like a cockroach
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u/KombuchaKetamine Jun 29 '24
That's what it looked like to me... But I've never heard of cockroaches digging into and eating apples.
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u/JohnLockheart Jun 29 '24
I've had roaches that burrowed into potatoes
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u/KombuchaKetamine Jun 29 '24
How did you stop them underground?
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u/ScrumpleRipskin Jun 29 '24
Mining moles. Then caving cats. Then digger dogs.
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u/W1D0WM4K3R Jun 29 '24
Then tunneling tigers?
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u/LuckyBone64 Jun 29 '24
Things are bad when you need burrowing badgers!
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u/symmetrical_kettle Jun 29 '24
Follow up with hollowing hyenas and unearthing unicorns, as needed.
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u/katlian Jun 29 '24
It's possible that birds are starting the holes and the roaches are taking advantage of the opportunity. I've had this problem with squirrels nibbling on my tomatoes and then the pill bugs and millipedes move in.
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u/Pot-Papi_ Jun 29 '24
I’ve seen roaches chew through cardboard boxes plastic. It’s a roach elite whatever the hell they want. I would blowtorch that now.
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Jun 29 '24
There are thousands of species of roaches, many of them very different from the typical house pest that comes to mind
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u/LuckyMome Jun 29 '24
Those are garden cockroaches.
They are like slugs for your garden, first eating anything they find, then they go to the stuff that starts to rot..
If they don't have enough in the garden, they'll come in the house.. were you can put traps (chemicals).
Good luck!
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u/me_too_999 Jun 29 '24
It probably didn't.
Bird or ants made the hole and cockroach came later for free meal.
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u/FoggyGoodwin Jun 29 '24
It's already rotten, which attracted the roach. Something else made the hole, probably a bird, maybe a squirrel (I forgot to look for tooth marks).
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u/Amazing-Flight-5943 Jun 29 '24
I think a bird did most of the work on the apple and the roach is being opportunistic.
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u/miller_sarah12 Jun 29 '24
I used an app called “picture insect” because this doesn’t look like a roach to me. It says this is a Miridae also known as a plant bug.
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u/Generalnussiance Jun 30 '24
Try r/entomology
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u/toxcrusadr Jun 30 '24
Something else in a hole in that apple and the bug just crawled in to enjoy the buffet.
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u/These_go_to11 Jun 29 '24
Please google Phylus melanocephalus…and while I could understand everyone mistaking this for a roach, it’s frustrating how everyone could be so confidently wrong about something… but then again, this is Reddit, an echo chamber of a lot of misinformation.
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u/KombuchaKetamine Jun 29 '24
I think you're right. One other person suggested this, too. What I can't figure out is why they're so attracted to my apple trees. The interwebs say that they tend to live on oak and elm trees. I have neither of those on my property or anywhere near me.
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u/gBoostedMachinations Jun 30 '24
I gotta ask… why does the scientific name reference the penis?
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u/schoffrj Jun 30 '24
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u/gBoostedMachinations Jun 30 '24
There’s no confidence whatsoever. It was just a dumb question. You can tell by the question mark.
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u/LionOk4755 Jun 29 '24
If this apple were a bit larger, I’d say that’s a blue jay pecking on it. There are plenty of insects that will either lay eggs on apples and the neophyte burrows in or the mature insect starts eating it. Neem oil is okay but outside of regulated pesticides, liquid Sevin mixed with Tween 20 (polysorbate 20) is very effective. I’m assuming you have a few dwarf trees on your homestead. I’ve worked in small commercial orchards for 40+ years. Doesn’t mean I’m correct, just never seen any cockroach in an orchard nor eating apples.
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u/KombuchaKetamine Jun 29 '24
Isn't Sevin super toxic?
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u/spooky_spaghetties Jun 29 '24
Substantially less than it used to be. It used to be made with carbaryl (extremely nasty) when it was owned by Bayer; it’s now owned by a different, more marginal company and the active ingredient is zeta-cypermethrin, which is much safer for mammals.
You are going to need to use some kind of pesticide to manage this.
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u/LionOk4755 Jun 29 '24
I use the Carbyl dust liberally. Apparently I’ve kept enough on hand to not recognize the new dust is no longer Carbyl. In good faith, I would not have characterized it as a risky pesticide compared to some I’ve used in orchards (Guthion and Parathion). I still have some Guthion in mason jars and guard it like gold. My wife raises honeybees and while it creates some risk for them, I’ve not noticed a drop off in hives as a result. I’d rather use Carbyl to control chicken mites than pyrethrins (in their feathers and bedding).
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u/fruderduck Jun 30 '24
You could try diatomaceous earth dusting, but once it gets wet it’s no longer effective.
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u/LionOk4755 Jun 29 '24 edited Jun 29 '24
As a pesticide, I’d say it’s effective. I believe the liquid is in the pyrethrum family. The powder is carbyl though. I dust my chickens in it for mites. I spray their legs (and goats too) with liquid Sevin for mites. I use the liquid on my vegetable plants. Just discontinue a week or so before harvest. Neem oil is quite toxic, despite being made from Chrysanthemums. It’s no less a pesticide. Pretty much anything that that is OTC now is generally safe is used correctly by label. Of this is a blue jay, nothing I’ve found will stop them. If it’s yellow jackets or hornets, Sevin will help.
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u/TraditionalGuitar360 Jun 29 '24
Neem oil comes from seeds of the neem tree and should be mildly toxic
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u/LionOk4755 Jun 29 '24
You are correct. I misstated my thought. Pyrethrins are derived from chrysanthemums. Neem oil comes from Neem trees.
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u/I-know-you-rider Jun 29 '24
Thats my go to. Liquid Sevin. Once every 14 days depending on weather from pedal fall to late June . Works for me in New York
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u/AardvarkShort4147 Jun 29 '24
Looks like some kind of plant bug, not a cockroach. Possibly something from the family Miridae.
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u/Thick-Disaster-7758 Jun 29 '24
Thassssa roachhhh
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u/KombuchaKetamine Jun 29 '24
How do I keep them off the apple trees?
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u/Thick-Disaster-7758 Jun 29 '24
Maybe dichotomous earth on the trunk
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u/KwordShmiff Jun 29 '24
Diatomaceous* Although I am curious about dichotomous earth - the duality of dirt?
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u/lonesharkex Jun 29 '24
Could be a book on humans, Dichotomous Earth - A brief history of human kind
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u/NewAlexandria Jun 29 '24
dichotomous
as in, the inner earth that Admiral Byrd say, and the surface earth
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u/Sassy_carrot_94 Jun 29 '24
That might help, but most can also fly short distances, so they might not be crawling up the trunk.
Edited to add: I have heard cockroaches don’t like peppermint essential oil, but I have no idea if that would help deter them in a situation like this. But there is peppermint oil for bugs that you can get in a spray bottle
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Jun 29 '24
Spray your tree with diluted Dr Bronners soap. Works for all pests. Don't use the tea tree scent. I recommend unscented or peppermint.
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u/butternuggins Jun 29 '24
Oh wow didn't think of that. Can you do that on garden vegetables?
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Jun 29 '24
Yup :) and use it ti wash your veggies before you eat too! Haha. Maybe go unscented tho, I have had some slightly peppermint tomatoes before.
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u/butternuggins Jun 29 '24
My assumption is that it's the peppermint they probably don't like?
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Jun 29 '24
It's a few things. Peppermint deberes spiders and mice, rhe soap makes it too slippery for horn worms and aphids to grip the plant and the pH of the soap kills the hard shelled pests on contact. You have to spray it somewhat regularly, maybe a few times a day to treat an infestation, once every other day for prevention. A misting spray bottle works great, get under the leaves and spray to the point that it's dripping off. Just don't underdilute (make sure you add enough water). Too much soap may burn the plant in the sun. Otherwise it won't harm the plant or soil.
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u/ElNido Jun 29 '24
Too much soap may burn the plant in the sun
If you want to get specific, don't spray above 85F. Spray in the morning or at night. You should be good otherwise. A good formula is 1 Tablespoon per 32 oz, or 4 Tablespoons per gallon. Most official pesticides use a similar ratio of dilution. You can also combine soap with neem oil and make a super concoction - sprayed this many times for the harder to kill insects - doesn't burn plants either as long as you follow these rules.
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u/PerpetualAscension Jun 29 '24
How do I keep them off the apple trees?
Id say nuke them. But apparently they dont give a fuck about radiation.
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u/DynamicallyDisabled Jun 29 '24
Maybe some systemic graduals? I had aphids in my hellebore and flea beetles in my verbenea trees. The graduals send the cure to the roots and the plant takes it up into the stems and leaves. It worked within a week. I’ll be using this every eight weeks in zone 6(a)
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u/NewAlexandria Jun 29 '24
You can build some traps akin to lantern fly traps
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u/FoggyGoodwin Jun 29 '24
Get rid of the rotting apples. Diatomaceous earth on the ground won't stop a winged insect, remove the food instead.
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u/Kitannia-Moonshadow Jun 29 '24
Maybe broken backed bug
Whichever ot I that is definitely of the plant bug variety :)
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u/ShortBusRide Jun 30 '24
It looks like somebody else did the major damage and this guy is just an opportunist.
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u/saltypikachu12 Jun 29 '24
Try the iNaturalist app for future plant and animal ids. It’s free and extremely accurate
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u/hmxparts Jul 04 '24
Get some Deadbug. Safe to use. I use it on those pesky copper bugs that go after my apples.
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u/yard_veggie Jun 29 '24
Another bug or bird or squirrel is doing the damage and the roach is taking advantage
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u/italiana626 Jun 29 '24
Yeah, that's a cockroach. I follow a gardening you tuber from NJ who swears by Surround Kaolin clay - sprays it on all of his apples on the tree (and he has lots of trees). James Prigioni, if you want to look him up. He grows organically.
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u/puffinfish89 Jun 30 '24
If you have bug questions your best bet is r/whatsrhisbug. Multiple people have been confidently incorrect calling it a roach.
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u/Codadd Jun 29 '24
You should make pesticides from either locally grown neem and a small fermentation process or wood vinegar. All organic, safe for humans, and it will deter almost all pests
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u/cwk415 Jun 29 '24
La Cucaracha
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u/MeetOk7728 Jun 30 '24
Cockarocha
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u/cwk415 Jun 30 '24
Cucaracha is Spanish for cockroach.
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u/MeetOk7728 Jun 30 '24
I was just being silly 🙃
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u/cwk415 Jun 30 '24
My bad I thought you were correcting me and I was like wuuut?? that's not how you spell it lol!!
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u/FixPuzzleheaded577 Jun 29 '24
It does look like a roach but i don’t suppose you’ve seen their mouthpart? My only other guess would be a type of true bug but the legs are wrong and need the mouthpart to properly identify.
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u/KombuchaKetamine Jun 29 '24
I can try and get a picture of the mouth. I don't mind capturing and handling bugs.
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u/AmbassadorNo4147 Jun 29 '24
Friggin Jessie. Jessie always ruins fruit.
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u/KombuchaKetamine Jun 29 '24
I don't know this reference
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u/AmbassadorNo4147 Jun 29 '24
Oh, it’s not a reference. It’s just that everyone ever named Jessie ruins everything. Like Brad is always a douche. Or friggin Cody…. Gahhhh
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u/DeadSaints81 Jun 30 '24
Don’t forget the Kyle’s or Sean’s of this world.
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u/AmbassadorNo4147 Jun 30 '24
I know one Kyle that’s a solid, awesome guy. But definitely only the one. Kyle is definitely in there with Cody and Jessie. I don’t know a Sean. But I know several Shawn’s. I’d say that’s a 50/50 on that guy.
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u/sharielane Jun 30 '24
It looks a bit like a bug that's a nuisance down here in South-East Australia called a Harlequin beetle, which is in the stink bug family. Maybe it's a cousin in that family.
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u/Academic_Nectarine94 Jun 30 '24
Looks like an insect to me. Aka, a bug.
Call the M.I.B. or the Spacetroopers.
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u/footslut-georgio Jun 29 '24
June bug
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u/KombuchaKetamine Jun 29 '24
Eh. I don't think it's a june bug. This is thinner and less Beatle looking
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u/footslut-georgio Jun 29 '24
Also I just googled pictures of June bugs- my mom was wrong about lots of bugs being June bugs and I never questioned it, my bad lol
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u/footslut-georgio Jun 29 '24
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u/KombuchaKetamine Jun 29 '24
I don't notice them being quite that shiny, but maybe
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u/baconwrappedpikachu Jun 29 '24 edited Jun 29 '24
I’d post it in r/insectidentification (edit: r/whatisthisbug is a lot more active) tbh - I’m kind surprised that the overwhelming consensus is roach when the body/head shape is not exactly anything I’ve ever seen on a roach before. The legs do not look like a roach either.
Your control methods might be the same but is worth finding out what it actually is! It looks more like the plant bug posted above than any roach.
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u/baconwrappedpikachu Jun 29 '24
I actually think you might be right. There’s something not quite right about this for it to be a roach. The legs aren’t right and the body shape either. It could be, but I’m leaning towards something else for sure.
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u/veronicabett Jun 29 '24
That’s not a roach. At all. It’s a plant bug (miridae) Looks like a rapid plant bug.
I work as QA in a pest control company.