Colorado Potato Beetle

[Durgan]

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?TPKJR 7 June 2010 Colorado Potato Beetle

Five adults were located, and one batch of eggs and several babies having a feast. I hand pick and squash when found. Two trips per day along the patch is probably necessary to eliminate the bug.

[Millymollymandy]

I haven't got any yet - they don't come every year but I do keep a look out!

[theabsinthefairy]

Spotted our first few adults the other day - a good squishing under the heel of my gardening boot for them!

[Durgan]

Picked four adult potato beetles today and only a few babies. One thing they never completely disappear. Care must be exercised all during the growing season.They can destroy a patch in a few days if left to their own devices.

Years ago I had a small patch and was away for three days during the heat of Summer. Upon my return all the foliage was a mass of babies working at destroying the vegetation. Those were the days of DDT, which annihilated the little beasts immediately upon applying. Alas, we are now civilized and don't use DDT anymore. Before the advent of DDT we used "Paris Green" ( Arsenic). I muse about what the commercial growers are using.

[Millymollymandy]

That's why we grow our own and spend hours picking off beetles and later on caterpillars off our brassicas, and some people have to do the slug watch all through the growing season too.....

[Durgan]

Picked eight adults today and several munchies. Actually the munchies are being reduced in number. It is a constant battle.

[Millymollymandy]

I found one grub yesterday which was quite big - now that's really unusual because I haven't seen an adult and there weren't any more grubs that I could see - usually you can spot lots of little ones very easily when they first hatch. Anyway it is no more.

[Durgan]

I waddle up and down the rows about three times a day and remove the munchies. So far I have found about 15 adults. Obviously I am not finding their egg clusters, and assume they can produce about 60 plus young from an egg cluster for a total of about 400 plus munchies, constant vigilance must be maintained.. Only two egg clusters have been found. So far I don't think second generation adults have been present, certainly not from my garden, and there are no gardens within several miles of me.

This checking has to be continued all Summer.