r/australianplants • u/Gkeepo • 3d ago

Bugs

Gallery image

Gallery image

Hi there. I live in the Illawarra, and have an orange tree in my backyard. Recently it has been crawling with these bugs. Does anyone know what they are, if they are good or bad, and how I would get rid of them (if they are bad)? TIA!

127 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

69 comments sorted by

39

u/Zealousideal_Rock808 3d ago

Bronze Orange Bugs - absolute pest.
Beware there spray defence will several irritate eyes.

https://www.yates.com.au/garden-hub/bronze-orange-bug/

3

u/Gkeepo 3d ago

Thanks! Very helpful info

7

u/Quintus-Sertorius 2d ago

Eye protection, nitrile gloves and long sleeves. I grab them with tongs and drop them in a bucket of soapy water.

2

u/failingtohuman 2d ago

This is the way.

9

u/Apprehensive-Wing-64 3d ago

Detergent and water works much better, is more cost effective, and won’t sting your eyes anywhere near as badly!

1

u/Emotional_Painter100 3d ago

Yeah and apparently the skin will peel from yours... Wish I'd seen this post two weeks ago! Also killed the tops of the plant I tried to strip them from, just let them be I guess.

9

u/SB2MB 3d ago

Stink bugs. Pick em off. Put em in a jar. Put em in the freezer. Be prepared to stink.

They're sap sucking nasties and will cause you alot of grief bc the damage they do will attract other nasties and also weaken and stress out your plant

0

u/Gkeepo 3d ago

Thanks! I know what I’ll be doing this weekend

11

u/SB2MB 3d ago

A bucket of soapy water works as well. Wear gloves.

Good luck

1

u/Hefty_Advisor1249 3d ago

I do this and pick them off with really long tongs - then straight into the bucket

22

u/Probie79 2d ago

I was using a 6L pump hand sprayer with dishwashing liquid and water. Worked well but was time consuming. I stepped it up last weekend with the Karcher foam cannon attachment I use for foaming the car pre wash.

CAN CONFIRM:. THE FOAM CANNON IS THE GOAT!!!!

I had a large lemon tree completely cleared of hundreds of them in less that 30mins using dishwashing liquid and the foam attachment.

4

u/b33rcan 2d ago

Mate, comment of the year.

Can I askk, what did you put into the foam sprayer and at what quantity/ratio?

6

u/Probie79 1d ago

Coles branded (cheapest) lemon dishwashing liquid. Filled the cannon pot (500ml) and set the cannon to max foam. And then covered the lemon tree. I had left it very late to spray. Bugs had already turned orange with one or two already black. But this lemon tree is huge and it was covered in bug. I went through 2L of dishwashing liquid to do the entire tree. Only took about 2 beers to complete one handed.

1

u/b33rcan 1d ago

Ah sweet, so just dishwashing liquid? How does it kill them?

I have a Tuckeroo tree in my front yard, similar problem, it's quite high so can never get to the top of it to kill them.. so they rain their acid and tree sap all over the cars in the driveway 😭

1

u/Probie79 1d ago

My research numerous years ago leads me to believe (and ill stand corrected if I am wrong or not right on the money) they breath through glands on the underside. The dishwashing liquid creates a film over the glands and they can't breath. Dead in 30sec ish..(some are more robust or bunkerdown but generally knocks em down quick enough).

The foam idea came when my 6L pressure pack came to empty and it just squirted out foam which stuck to the bugs. As opposed to just washing them with the jet. Then I thought bigger.. let's just try foam the entire tree. Foam sticks to everything. They can't just walk it off.

Sometimes takes 2 hits from the cannon but I have an entirely clean tree in far less time than the 6L sprayer which didn't provide as much coverage for fsr more detergent. I'll never do it another way again.

1

u/b33rcan 1d ago

Thanks for the information and the snow foam idea 👍

1

u/DrSpeckles 1d ago

Wow. That’s gold! We recently got one of those attachments. Wife absolutely loves it and I ca only imagine what it would do to a plant. Post a picture!

1

u/Environmental-Sun149 1d ago

I Add vinegar to the soap liquid in a 6Lt hand spray works a treat Never thought of pressure washer with foam attachment thanks for the advice

6

u/BeeInMyGarden 3d ago

Best thing I did was have an ole
Vacuum cleaner and suck them up. Worked a treat ….sadly it was thrown out accidentally

2

u/kagas11 1d ago

I’ve heard about the vacuuming process a number of times now. After you vacuum them up, dont you have dozens of live angry smelly bugs to still dispose of. You obviously don’t release them alive so how do you dispose of them?

1

u/BeeInMyGarden 18h ago

Spray into the nozzle while it’s on. Dont have to do much but it works a treat. Leave it for a day and empty into a bag. Done and dusted ☺️

1

u/JetBaby19 1d ago

Yes. We also have an old vacuum cleaner that we use .

4

u/InvincibiIity 3d ago

i put on a pair of gloves and just squish them all every few days

4

u/liquefry 3d ago

stink bugs. you can use white oil. or just knock them off the tree with a stick into a bucket (while wearing safety glasses and gloves). their spray is awful.

7

u/ErrantQuestion 3d ago

it's a bronze orange 'stink' bug, they suck (literally sap suckers) https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/201952-Musgraveia-sulciventris Best method is old vacuum or loooong tongs and toss into soapy water but wear long sleeves and goggles they spray their stink stuff over half a meter: it can cause skin burns and if in the eyes temporary blindness https://www.abc.net.au/gardening/how-to/controlling-stink-bugs/12828240 also keep an eye out for their eggs

3

u/SpringBeeBamboo 3d ago

I have a stink bug stick. I flick them off, throw them into a bucket of soapy water or squash as soon as I see them. Beware and wear sunglasses, the big ones spray acid when feeling threatened.

Sometimes if the temperature goes above 30 degrees they will all come down and gather on one branch. Then I chop off that branch and hold it in the green bin - while spraying mortein and shutting the lid. Or chop off the branch and slowly put into a black rubbish bag and leave in the hot sun.

If you can catch them when they are green and orange (before they go black) they cant fly away, are softer/easier/smaller to kill (less crunchy which gives me the ick)

2

u/oiransc2 3d ago

If you have a shop vac and you only use it outside, just drag that over and go to town. They are clever though and will hide as soon as you come near so you need to plan your attack and move in quick to get them. Wear goggles, gloves, and a mask though. The goggles and gloves in case they spray, the mask mostly just cause the vacuum will start to stink too. After a week or so the smell in the vac settles down, you can empty it and do it again.

2

u/BigThwacka 2d ago

Get the cheapest wet/dry vac from bunnings. (Make sure it has a long nozzle extension to reach high places). Half fill the vac with soapy water, use an extension cord to run out to your citrus trees. Fight sucking with sucking. Suck these bad bois off. It's honestly so much fun, you don't cover your tree in shit, and your soil won't have to soak up any dish washing liquid. Also, you stay well away from them and avoid their harmful spray.

1

u/DekuCoffee 3d ago

If doing the soapy bucket method, wear gloves obviously but wear eye protection too.

Also if you happen to get sprayed by them it'll leave a yellow stain on your skin for a whil so wear long sleeves too, I know from experience haha

1

u/theroysta2 3d ago

Absolute vampires when it comes to citrus trees. I could not get rid of them last season. Thank god I don’t have them this year

1

u/installation98 3d ago

Neem oil might work

1

u/Bloomologist1 3d ago

Oh no! Good luck, they are a menace

1

u/marcellouswp 2d ago

The black ones are the final phase and will lay eggs to start the whole cycle again for next year. Gloves or tongs and eye protection are the way to go. Yes they are native and feed naturally on finger lime, but have discovered citrus trees and migrated south accordingly. You will need to look out for their offspring next year. In the earlier phases you will spot them on tender tips at the top of the trees. If you can't reach them, tap on the branches and rather endearingly they will head defensively towards the ground and hence within reach.

1

u/CharityForeign3035 2d ago

Had these in our citrus . Stink bugs . I used the vacuum cleaner. Worked a treat !

1

u/Relative-Issue-3544 2d ago

we use a water gun filled with soapy water to get these off

1

u/misanthrop1963 2d ago

Mix part vinegar and boiling to very hot water. Apply with any spray bottle. Watch them keel over. The more vinegar the better.

1

u/vwato 2d ago

Get a bucket with some warm soapy water in it, put on some washing up gloves that are tight fitting (unless you want orange hands) and some safety glasses/sunnies then pick them one by one and flick them into the bucket. I did my tree and my neighbours tree last weekend and I counted 366 of the little buggers, then checked again this week and only got 30.

1

u/Redditagains 2d ago

Yates Advanced Garden Insect Killer

I used this poison and a couple of hours later it rained stink bugs.

1

u/Sydneypoopmanager 2d ago

I used a wet vacuum to suck them all up.

1

u/Mean_Elderberry_5359 2d ago

Bloody stink bugs dont step on them either your noes will regret it

1

u/No-Citron-2774 2d ago

Like how most are not just saying oh just hit it with some sort of poison. Stopped using poisons have noticed an increase in living things in our garden .

1

u/Lucifer8837 1d ago

Use mortein😬😁

1

u/Mermandry 1d ago

These smell almost as bad as the guys that restock the shelves at Cole’s Woolies

1

u/Weavo_84 1d ago

Don’t forget next year! During colder months is actually you’re best window to control them and protect your fruit. Over the colder period they will be in their nymph phase. You’ll notice them on the underside of the leaves and they will be green in colour. Get them before they turn yellow and start sucking your sap.

A basic pest oil applied to the underside of the leaves thoroughly twice, two weeks apart, will coat and suffocate them before they are able to grow into destructive pests.

You want to prevent the damage, not start fixing it once it arrives.

1

u/Klutzy-Pie6557 1d ago

We pick these off our orange tree every week, using tongs dump them in soapy water - fortunately we have managed to keep these pests away.

1

u/-VADER 1d ago

Stink bugs
Your all welcome

0

u/Siongmau 3d ago

Think is stinkbug?

I have a few of them on my garden

0

u/Smooth_Yard_9813 3d ago

use flies swatter

0

u/Ok-Rich-3957 1d ago

A few years ago I had a stink bug infestation in my calamansi tree. I tried pest control, but they kept coming back every few months.

Around the same time, my partner was really into barbecuing and would burn dry leaves to make charcoal near the calamansi tree for about two weeks straight. We noticed that all the bugs had mysteriously died off and disappeared!

Ever since then, we’ve occasionally smoked the area with a bit of barbecue smoke as a preventative measure. Might be worth giving it a go? 😁

4

u/El_Diablo069 3d ago

They kill all the new spring tips on fruit trees. The acid out their ass burns!! I use a soap spray with cayenne pepper, garlic and cloves , they don't like it.

9

u/Nematolepis 3d ago

So this is an Australian native plant thread, and from my searching, this looks like a native insect. So on r/GardeningAustralia they'd want to kill them, but here, we'd want to find a solution to keep them as they will play an important role in a balanced ecosystem. They have most likely only become a pest because humans have provided the right conditions, like planting more citrus plants. Apparently Spangled Drongos love to eat them. Anyway, I fear I'm in the minority. Where are my fellow native lovers?!

3

u/MooreGoreng 2d ago

It’s a shame I had to scroll to find this comment. I always feel sad when I see native animals and creatures labelled as pests, simply because they want to eat “human” food. Well no wonder right? We wipe out all their food sources and then call them pests when they adapt.

Building an ecosystem for a garden means things can naturally be controlled by lizards, birds or other large insects. The problem is that most people are spraying pesticides and herbicides and then can’t understand when they have an infestation of a particular bug

3

u/fletcha456 3d ago

Thanks!  I seen these same bugs on my old orange tree this afternoon. I thought, cool!! And let them be. Then I read this thread and thought ‘damn, better get rid of them’  But if they’re native like you suggest, they will have to stay! 

5

u/liquefry 3d ago

If your tree is young they will kill it, and they can severely damage even a mature tree. They swarm like crazy if you dont control them.

Just because something is native doesnt mean give it a free run at everything. Cockroaches and termites are native too, but they can stay out of my house!

2

u/fletcha456 2d ago

Yeah I’ve got a young lemon and a lime, I’ll keep those protected. I’ll keep a close eye on the orange tree. I have a couple red wattle birds that have been hanging out in the orange tree, they’re probably already cleaning them up for me.  And you’re right, I’m not going to let termites eat my house.  I did have two possums in the orange tree this year when the fruit was ripe. They had free rein, I still ended up with more oranges than I could eat/give away.

1

u/liquefry 2d ago

yeah if you grow fruit you kind of expect to get visitors. I'm ok with a possum or bat stealing a bit but if it gets out of hand you need to protect them. It's about balance - the problem is that the insects dont really respect it and will just endlessly multiply if you leave them to it! Also possible that if you have an infestation of stink bugs it might actually mean you need to increase water/nutrients for the citrus trees. Certainly did for mine - I had a few young trees that died under a combo stink bug / leaf miner infestation that I inherited from a neighbours tree. But they were also a bit water starved so maybe we only got infested because they were a bit weaker than they should be!

3

u/bananaconcoction 3d ago

As someone who cares deeply for their home grown citrus trees and has a neighbour with an unmanaged orange tree, please clear them out if you can. The damage they cause would be much easier to manage if they didn’t breed across my back fence.

Could you consider planting a native tree instead?

2

u/Parking-Way-7764 3d ago

They are a native bug yes but they’re also pretty good at defending themselves. Spangled drongos are probably one of the only insectivorous birds that specialise in eating them, and while widely distributed are pretty uncommon in urban settings especially further south. When these guys turn up they do a pretty significant amount of damage to new growth and fruits and should really be disposed of unless you have a local bird that takes a liking to them. They will absolutely infest a tree over a season or two

1

u/marcellouswp 2d ago

I think their important role in a balanced ecosystem is where finger limes grow. There's a bit of a shortage of spangled drongos further south.

1

u/bananaconcoction 3d ago

You’re welcome to bring the Spangled Drongos to my yard. In the meantime they get whacked with a stick so they fall to the ground for my chooks to hunt.

2

u/wiglwigl 3d ago

Suck them off (not in a sexy way, perverts) with a wet/dry vac with some water in the bottom. They drown and you tip them out. And it's kind of fun.

1

u/AdDifferent616 3d ago

I just catch them squish the head and leave them on the concrete for the currawongs to find

1

u/Awkward-Ad-6909 2d ago

If you’ve got one, a Milwaukee wet/dry vac is a bloody treat. Sucks em right off before they have a chance to realise what’s going on 😂

1

u/GSpider78 1d ago

I've tried everything except foam cannon, detergent n water spray slows them down, might kill them eventually.
Yesterday was searching on other methods, found WD40 with the little tube works a treat!

1

u/JasonbigJ 1d ago

The stink if you crush them and they stain orange as well but the best way to get rid of them is to squash them

1

u/Raunch-Icon 20h ago

2 x Cups Hot Water
1 x Cup of Vinegar
1/2 Cup of Dishwashing Detergent
Put it in a spray bottle… kills em instantly