Like many of fellow gardeners ,I, too, am suffering from asparagus beetle and have spent the last several days killing off the beetle and their grubs by hand. By being vigilant and patient I hope to make sure of a good showing of spears next year folowing the planting of 150 F1 varieties this year. I have used liquid derris and although this seems to have knocked out several grubs many more have turned up subsequently. I am not too bothered about the beetle. My question really is about a spider, about 4-5 mms long, red black and white and webbing in most of the ferns. Its web looks like a tiny dense bird`s nest structure in the leaf axil of the fern Inside are hundreds of tiny bluey/white eggs. I have squeezed these out of existence but I am now wondering if they are not harmful!! Can anyone tell me anything about this spider?
Peejo
