While checking out the chile patch last weekend I found a couple of nice bugs I have seen before: The first was a tiny little praying mantiss, not even half an inch long, happily munching on something it had snagged. Maybe it's the progeny of the gal that hung out here last year in the C. chinense section ( I did find it on a choco hab). The second was a little spider, same type I found indoors last year. Only about 1/4 inch long, head larger than abdomen, sort of a metallic sheen on the body. Scary looking huge fangs for a critter of such diminutive size. Jumps around looking for aphids and what-not to crunch on. Also found a few aphids trying to get colonized on the Aji Pajaritos. Opportunistic little buggers went after the plants that were having the toughest time coming back fro the hail storm. Sprayed them off with plain water for now, will up the ante if they insist on playing games. One thing I've noticed about the aphids I get, they always start off at the very top node of the plants, right where the newest growth is emerging. Almost never under the leaves. It's easy to spray them off from there, but it seems different than what others have experienced. Scott... tomatoes and chiles in bloom... KCK