Beetle ID please

[oldie]

Found hundreds of these crawling up and around my pots.

[mothhawk]

Looks to me more like a black aphid than a beetle. What sort of size are they? It's hard to tell from the picture. Compare with these:

http://www.nhm.ac.uk/natureplus/message/5700

[mothhawk]

My grandfather used to say - if it moves slowly it's a pest, get rid of it, if it moves fast, it's a predator, keep it!
This philosophy is what I always base my first assessment of new creepy crawlies on, and it does seem to be true the majority of the time.

[oldie]

I think they are to big for aphids, they are about 9mm long. They do move quite fast.

[mothhawk]

Definitely not an aphid then. I'll go get my bug book out...

[mothhawk]

OK, next best guess is immature capsid bug of some sort. These are sap suckers and NOT good for plants!

[oldie]

These seem to be coming from my wood pile and although they all over my pots they do not seem to be going on the plants.

[Lotsaveg]

Looks like a conifer aphid to me. They're probably coming out of the woodpile after their winter sleep.

Large aphid - Cinara spp? | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

[oldie]

That certainly looks like the one. There is a conifer nearby and a lot of old Cypress branches in the wood pile from where I cut some down last year. Do I need to do any thing and if so what?. There are hundreds and I don't normally resort to sprays but if really necessary I would.

[oldie]

Well this does not look good. 40 years ago the original owners put their Scots Pine Christmas tree in the garden and it grew. When we moved in 15 years ago I wanted to cut it down but OH said no, and she had a point - it looked good and hid some unsightly buildings from view. It is a bit higher than the house now. I have just had a look and it is covered with these aphids, thousands! What to do?

[Aberdeenplotter]

ermhh, move house??

[pauco]

My grandfather used to say - if it moves slowly it's a pest, get rid of it, if it moves fast, it's a predator, keep it!
This philosophy is what I always base my first assessment of new creepy crawlies on, and it does seem to be true the majority of the time.

A wise man your granddad


paul.

[mothhawk]

Looks like a conifer aphid to me. They're probably coming out of the woodpile after their winter sleep.

O.K. I need a more up to date bug book!