Good Guys and Bad Guys

Our potatoes are looking good, but we have to be vigilant for potato bugs.  The adult bugs themselves don't bother the plants.  It is their larvae that do the damage.   Here is one of the adults that I found on a potato plant last week:

Tom walks through the rows of potatoes every day.  He carries a can of soapy water and brushes any potato bugs he finds into the water.   Another way we fight the potato bugs is to plant the potatoes in a different field every year.  But, we also have a powerful ally in our war against these critters.  The same day I took the picture of the potato bug above, I also found a bunch of the little bugs in the picture below:

I'm sure you recognize the ladybug on the potato leaf.  These are voracious little insects that just love to eat potato bug eggs and larvae.  This little ladybug was so industrious that it took a while for me to catch her still long enough to take her picture.