From the activities of these beetles it's not surprising that they are multiplying rapidly. They are also eating my squash flowers. Rapidly.
What are they? What will they start eating next? Should I do some sort of (preferably organic) control? What would that be?
Thanks so much for any help! Neither I nor my dad both multi-decade gardeners, have seen them before.
Striped cucumber beetles. I thought they came with every garden.
I didn't answer the entire question. They like a range of cucurbits and other plants too. They carry bacterial wilt and are very damaging to produce. Neem will help control them and is organic. I am a big proponent of keeping cups of water handy around the garden to knock off offenders. You can seriously diminish populations with no insecticide at all. Your infestation is bad.
They are adults of Corn Root worm.
She is right, they will kill off squash in a short time.
We have no mercy & use Sevin on them.
We don't use sevin in our garden. It is too broad range and kills beneficials such as ladybugs, bees, and mantids.
So, Corn Root worm (Diabrotica virgifera virgifera) and striped cucumber beetles (Acalymma vittatum) are different names for the same thing? The google images do look similar.
And, no, I have only seen spotted cucumber beetles before. I didn't know they came in stripes.
>I am a big proponent of keeping cups of water handy around the garden to knock off offenders. You can seriously diminish populations with no insecticide at all.
Does just knocking them off the plants actually help? It seems like they would just climb back on.
How about squishing them, or drowning them in soapy water? And spraying with neem if that's not enough?
Thank you folks so much for your advice :).
From Wikipedia:
'The striped cucumber beetle... superficially resembles the western corn rootworm (Diabrotica virgifera), another serious crop pest. However, the ventral abdominal surface of A. vittatum is black where that of D. virgifera are yellow, and the elytra of D. virgifera often do not extend the full length of the abdomen.'
I knock them off into the water for a swim. No lifeguard on duty. You are beyond a swim team and need to spray. Try neem or spinosad.
I believe the worm is the spotted beetle, not the striped.
Thank you, Maypop and everyone!
Before I read your latest, I went out and drowned all I could find in a container of soapy water. I just have two plants infested like that, but I got 200-300 bugs. I can get some neem spray, too, probably tomorrow. I looked for eggs, and didn't see any. Yet.
I really appreciate your help :).
Use flour on 'em.
My Grandmother kept a mayo jar with holes punched in the lid (back when they were metal) and kept plain flour in it. Shake over the bugs and get a good coat on them. They will 'gum up' and fall off and die.
This was before anyone even heard the term 'organic'...but it does work.
Maypop, that cracked me up- no lifeguard on duty.
melody- amazing!
:o)
If I dusted anything with flour my dogs would cause more damage looking for the food! LOL! I do keep a container of soapy water handy when they start up.
