Colorado potato beetles pose such a grave threat to potato crops that flamethrowers have been used to control them. However, you do not have to go to such extremes in your garden.
We at Gardener’s Path provide a number of natural control methods to use against this voracious pest – and if necessary, tips on how to use insecticides as well.
Although not discovered until 1811, Colorado potato beetles quickly spread from the Rocky Mountains to the East Coast by 1874, and reached Europe a few years later.
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Left unchecked, these beetles can devour an entire crop of potatoes. And they also lay waste to these fruits and vegetables:
Tomatoes Eggplants Peppers Ground CherryInfestations are so serious that they have even been considered part of international warfare!
In the 1950s, East Germans called these pests “Yankee beetles” and accused the United States government of dropping them from planes during the Cold War. (There was no evidence to support this claim.)
Identification, Biology, and DistributionColorado potato beetles, aka potato bugs, are about 1/4 to 1/2 inch long. The area behind their heads is orange-yellow. You can easily identify them by the 10 alternating yellow and black stripes on their shells.
These voracious insects can be confused with false potato beetles (Leptinotarsa juncta), which are not pests. You can tell the difference because the false potato beetles have alternating white and black stripes on their shells.
Potato beetle larvae hatch from yellow-orange eggshell clusters on the bottom of leaves. Newly hatched larvae are
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