I had a few of these last year and they stayed mostly on the kudzu next door. I had to pull up these pole beans. They are legume lovers and once I'd removed the beans I was able to vanquish them, by squshing with my fingers and spraying with water. Does anyone else have any experience with them?
another photo
and one more
never saw these before- they are some nasty looking varmints!
Did you try any other treatment?
I didn't and maybe I should have. I'm not a very experienced vegetable gardener growing organically. The extension office suggested Neem oil among other things. I've used neem for lace bugs on azaleas to good effect but I guess I just got overwhelmed by the numbers of bugs. Also with the kudzu patch just the other side of the fence, maybe 15' away and the fact that my wife was afraid to go to the garden without being fully covered. Gee, now I feel like I should have at least tried something. I only saw a few last year so I hope someone figures out something. I think there is a fear that they may become a problem for legume crops like soy beans and peanuts.
You may want to post on the bug ID forum. Id like to know what they are.
I had never heard of the kudzu beetle until I read your post, back40bean - evidently they are here in NC too!
http://www.salisburypost.com/News/080311-Scott-Tilley-kudzu-beetle-qcd
Yet another pest to contend with! UGH!
Here's a photo of the kudzu beetle - it looks kinda "square"
http://insectimage.com/index.php?album=kudzu-beetle
Here's another link. I'd thought of them as round but, you're right, Honeybee, they look kind of square.
http://www.walterreeves.com/gardening-q-and-a/kudzu-bug-identification/
I did make a similar post on the garden pest forum. I'll put one, too on the insect ID forum. Thanks, 1lisac.
Neem is a pretty generic beetle destroyer. I'd have gone with that early on. If you wait until you have a large population you not only have the problem of the current bugs you're seeing but also the geometric population growth that happens in our warm climate since many of these bugs produce multiple generations per season. Even knocking off what you can into water cups will help diminish the populations. Well, on the positive side, perhaps your neighbor's kudzu will get set back. :)
Here's a really large photo of them, that I found on the web...
http://www.ccs-hk.org/DM/butterfly/Bugs/Hemiptera/Megacopta-cribrar.html
Yeah, they're here in SC, too. I found them on my Maters, at least I thought I did. Then I realized that they were actually on the kudzu that was climbling up the trellis, and not the tomatoes themselves...
It just occurred to me that we don't have kudzu growing near here, so perhaps that's why I haven't seen any of these bugs, YET!
hope they don't come down to florida.....don't need any more pests down here.
SoFlaCommercial - I know where you're coming from. Pests are one of the reasons why I left Sth. Florida in 1999 after living there for 30+ years.
Aha...is that what they are?!! I pulled my pole beans Friday, as they were dying anyway. when I did, hoards of those little beetle bugs flew around my head. I had never seen them before, had no idea what they were. I just pulled the beans, and left them lay in the hot sun for a while. It seemed to distract the bugs. I only had them on the pole beans, which I had planted as a trellis shade on my front porches I haven't seen any on the bush beans in the garden out back.
Ugh - I just found these in my pole and bush beans today. I had Bean Leaf Beetles for the last couple of months, but now Kudzu bugs too. :( The beans that were hammered the worst were my bush beans - the bugs even eat holes in the beans. :(
I wonder how close either moxies_garden or Cindy_GA are to kudzu. For me the kudzu is next door and within about 25' of my garden. Since just a few days after removing the pole beans the bugs have completely left my garden, thankfully. The kudzu is still covered with them though it doesn't seem to have suffered much. Darn it! And I still can smell the bugs in my yard.
Hey Back40Bean -
I haven't seen any kudzu close to my garden fortunately. I'm not inundated yet - hoping I won't be. I'm guessing that the closest kudzu is a couple of miles away up on the road. So far, no odor.
I wonder how close either moxies_garden or Cindy_GA are to kudzu. For me the kudzu is next door and within about 25' of my garden. Since just a few days after removing the pole beans the bugs have completely left my garden, thankfully. The kudzu is still covered with them though it doesn't seem to have suffered much. Darn it! And I still can smell the bugs in my yard.
I'm bumping this thread up because I cannot find a kudzu bug here this year. The kudzu in our adjacent property has receded the past few years due to the bugs but it is coming on strong again this year. I haven't been able to find any news about this. Does anyone know if there's been a decline?
I have these on some Asian Yard Long Beans growing in an E arthbox sitting on a concrete patio. There's a stand of overgrown trees and what could be kudzu on the property line about 15 ft. From the EBs...
I hit em with a blast from the hose,.. They seem to be gone.
We moved the EBs across the yard...I'll check them tomorrow and spray with Neem if necessary.
Don't people do anything to remove Kudzu from their property? That stuff is terrible when allowed to get established.
Kudzu, known as 'The vine that ate the South', has been a scourge here for many years although it's coverage has been greatly reduced. The property adjacent to ours belongs to apartments and the area covered with kudzu is what they refer to as 'the wooded area'. The first pic is a photo of an old photo showing a lot, mostly behind our next door neighbor, which we bought 10 years ago. The 2nd pic shows the same area today, after a lot of work (by me). The area to the left of the wooden fence belongs to the apartments but I 'voluntarily keep it tended. It can indeed be a great problem.
You have done a great job of getting rid of a lot of it- you must have to work constantly at it---good luck. It's sad that the apartment owners don't voluntarily keep it cleaned up..
Thank you.
As I said, the apt management refers to that area as the wooded area. At least the current owners keep the trash picked up. My wife and I used to pick up trash so that we wouldn't have to look at it. It was while picking up trash one day that I discovered, growing under the kudzu, Toadshade Trillium, which I rescued to my garden. Current pics below. I don't complain about the kudzu to them because I'm sure that, if they did anything, it would be to poison everything. I prefer my tending to theirs, even considering the work involved. That said, it would be very nice to have apt owners who cared about the landscape.
Does anyone know if the Kudzu beetle has the same flying habit as the Japanese beetle?? IF they only know how to land on vegetation from above, and do not know how to go into the plants from the sides - like bees know how to do - this might be an answer to the problem. I put this over my beans and raspberry rows, tented in an "A frame" shape, and it keeps the JBs off of my beans and raspberries, but still lets the bees come in, via the open ends, to pollinate. This fabric works like a dream! I use it every year!
http://www.gardeners.com/buy/summerweight-garden-fabric/11749.html?start=2&q=fabric
