BEETLE INVASION!!!

Now that my garden FINALLY seems to be growing and producing some fruits for all of my hard labor, the whole bug population for three thousand miles has descended upon it and decided that it is a

fabulous free bug buffet. UGH.

For years while talking about lady bugs, people around here keep correcting me and telling me that the infestation of ladybugs in our area are really "japanese beetles". And they always tend to say it with that cocked head and condesending voice reserved for city slickers that are out of their depth out here in the country.

WELLLL.....I am here to say that Japanese Beetles look NOTHING like ladybugs because I've done my homework and everyone that kept correcting me can come over here and kiss my big white city slicker booty!!!!!

There is a great website for identifying bug species....

www.whatsthatbug.com

I got the photo of the japanese beetle orgy (that is what they named it) from one submitted to their site. You can take a photo of a bug and send it to them and they will tell you what it is and if it is dangerous to you or your home or pets or whatever.

Anyhow, my big gripe today is that my garden is being reduced to skeletal leaves. *sigh*

And then there were these odd bugs ....they looked to be babies of some kind....on some of the lower leaves this morning. They looked like white-ish ticks. But I did a search on ticks and couldn't find any that looked like what I saw so I am thinking that perhaps they are some sort of aphid. Especially since they were crawling all over these shriveled up (THEY ARE KILLING IT!!!) leaves on our pumpkin plant. Ticks don't do that do they?

This is not a rhetorical question folks.

If you know ANYTHING AT ALL About bugs, please share your knowledge with me 'cause I am freaked out by all things buggy and these were freaking me out more than usual because they look so much like ticks. I am more scared of ticks than spiders and for me, that is REALLY saying something!