Pest ID Pageant

[treekatie]

Can anyone help with identifying these critters? I'm in SC and it's been cooler than normal this year. And WET.

Contestant Number One:
I've never, ever seen these before. What damage can they do, and if they cause damage how can I kill them?



Contestant Number Two:
I've seen these, not sure if they cause damage but if they do what can I do about it? It's not the best pic, but it's the creature at the top of this poor looking tomato.


And finally, Contestant Number Three:
I found this beauty (and what looks like a hundred or two babies on her back) on the edge of my swimming pool. Released her unharmed in the hopes she may address Contestants One and Two, but I have no idea what kind she is. I will say this, she is larger than she appears in this photo (almost as long as my thumb).






Sorry for the poor quality of photos, it's what I can do with today's technology...:/

And finally, of the three, who would you most and least prefer to see in YOUR garden?

 

[sandspoultry]

#2 stink bug

 

[Eggsoteric]

#1 Assisin Bug Nymphs perhaps?

 

[TXchickmum]

#3 looks like a wolf spider

-assassin bugs are beneficial in the garden. Keep 'em around as they eat other pests.

 

[Cole D]

2 will eat squash and cucumbers, as well as other things. Kill them when you see them.

 

[Luckyduck2]

Aren't spiders beneficial?

 

[TXchickmum]

Certainly!
-but the spider was "on the edge of the swimming pool" (not on/in the garden), and it was left alone and "released unharmed in the hopes she may address Contestants One and Two".