Snails and Saviors

 If you don't like seeing photos of snails, don't read this post!

Every morning after cat chores Mickey and I go out back.  Lately it's been early enough to see snails late to getting back into hiding.  It's a sure thing to find them on the pale pink lupine in the Pollinator Garden.  I relocate them to the compost pile.  

First it was one.

Then it was five. 

No, six... one was on the underside of a leaf.  

They really like lupine blossoms!

The snails also love the iris, darn them. 

While taking the lupine photos I notice a good guy, an assassin bug.  It won't help with the snails, I don't think.  They do feed on insects larger than themselves.  They have curved pointed mouth parts they use to stab prey, injecting them with digestive juices.  They then suck out... well, I just ate, and don't really want to think about it.  Anyway, I suppose they could stab a snail, but they eat aphids and other pests.  The assassin bugs in Oregon are not usually the ones that bite humans if bothered.  It's best to leave them alone though, just in case, since their bite/stab is very painful, and can spread disease, mostly in tropical areas of the Americans, including the southern U.S.  They are still considered beneficial! 

Oh, and their proboscis?  When they aren't using it, they curl it under themselves!  That sounds almost cute!   This is one of the only true bugs I like.

Then, seeing the photos later, I noticed another good guy, a soldier beetle, or leatherwing in the bottom of the shot.  They not only eat pests, but are important pollinators. Their larvae live in leaf litter over the winter, a reason to let things be, don't be in such a hurry to tidy up the beds!  Soldier beetles can easily be mistaken for other red and black insect pests.  

Now, on to the insects everyone loves, even people who hate insects.  Ladybugs.  

Seven-spot ladybug resting on a concrete block.

 

Convergent ladybug on iris. They have an elongated shape and white lines behind their head.  They can be mistaken for the invasive Japanese lady beetle, but their marking is a black M or W (depending on which way you're looking at it!).

So much life going on in the garden.  You just have to get up and out early enough to see it!   That's getting easier and easier as the days get longer.