Colorado Potato Beetle

[Durgan]

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?OKJFX 18 May 2012 Colorado Potato Beetle
The potatoes are just starting to emerge from the soil, and the Colorado Potato Beetle is out in force. I collected 22 adult beetles and found one egg cluster. The plants are being powder sprayed with diatomaceous earth/boric acid powder, but this probably affects the young leaf eaters after they emerge from an egg clusters, speculation only at this juncture. For hand picking it is best to collect the adults and carefully check for egg clusters and destroy both. After the eggs hatch the plant is covered with hungry munchers, making hand destruction difficult.

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?RVOCO 18 April 2012 Colorado Potato Beetle
While rototilling the garden row to plant radishes, I discovered two Colorado Potato Beetles in the soil in the centre of the garden. When squashed the insect was discovered to be full of eggs or at least the rich orange colour of such. Apparently they survive the Winter as adults, just awaiting my potatoes to start growing. And the battle is on.

[bill1953]

We are lucky it has not established itself in Ireland or the UK.

[The Riff-Raff Element]

We have them here in numbers, but so far this year my searches have yielded only one victim for the crushing stone. This is one pest for which there are very few chemical treatments (not that are permitted in France, anyway), so even commercial growers have to get out of bed and pick them off manually. At least the buggers are easy to spot.

[demi]

we're infested with them. id never seen them before. they are pretty beetles, all stripy and vibrantly coloured.
my OH has sprayed them a few times but they're everywhere and they just keep coming back!

[The Riff-Raff Element]

we're infested with them. id never seen them before. they are pretty beetles, all stripy and vibrantly coloured.
my OH has sprayed them a few times but they're everywhere and they just keep coming back!

Forget spraying them - they are immune to most things and those that do work have to be applied at key times in the life cycle. The ONLY thing that works really well is knocking the beetles and their incredibly ugly larvae into a pot, tipping the lot onto a flat rock and trampling them into a slew of orange goo.

The eggs are laid on the underside of potato & aubergine leaves in bright orange clumps. Pinch off the leaves and burn them.

They make themselves obvious on the basis that they are nasty to eat. The downside of this strategy is that people who just want to kill them can find them easily

[Durgan]

What is the UK's secret? How come they are immune to the Colorado Potato Beetle? I have lived in many places in Canada, and have always had the Colorado Potato Beetle.

In the old days we use to spray with Paris Green, I shudder even thinking about it. For a few years we had some respite by using DDT. I like to think that I am getting some relief this year with diatomaceous earth/boric acid powder (my own concoction). I haven't seen any more over the last two days. Looking at the photos I posted, I see the adults are covered with the powder. It is a very hot, sunny day here and there is not a sign of them.Maybe divine intervention, but highly unlikely in my case.
Study the first four photos and see the powder clinging to the adults. Maybe I scored.
http://www.durgan.org/URL/?OKJFX

[The Riff-Raff Element]

What is the UK's secret? How come they are immune to the Colorado Potato Beetle? I have lived in many places in Canada, and have always had the Colorado Potato Beetle.

Two factors, I suppose:

- The English Channel;
- The UK has little need to import potatoes, so the few that are coming in (for the most part very early spuds from Egypt and suchlike) can be easily monitored.

[oldjerry]

When I was a kid you usedto see posters everywhere,schools,shops etc warning people to look out for them.