CLOSED: What Kind of Beetle is It?

Is this a green ladybug? Does anyone know the exact name of it?

Spotted cucumber bug - a very nasty pest.

Do they ruin plants?

Yes. They eat them like crazy. And it seems Brugmansia flowers are a delicacy for them.

I guess I should quite putting them BACK on the plants when they try to fly away.... :)

Thanks for the help.

jamie - The spotted cucumber beetle has made the list of the 10 worst insect pests, because it is so numerous and because it feeds on over 200 kinds of plants - doesn't just eat cucumbers. Its larva is called the southern corn rootworm - guess where it feeds... Give it the two-brick treatment.
CJ

About two month ago, I too realized that this was not a yellow ladybug... and the worst thing was that this bug has eaten about every flower in my garden...they love yellow flowers and I just bought Brugmansia and have discovered they will not let it bloom - it looks horrible!!
Since my discovery I've been giving them the "shoe-and-the-fence" treatment.... On the first day I collected about 20 of them in a plastic bag! Those small blue bags I take with me when I walk my dog work very well! And you get better at catching them too..:) I am a pro now, he-hee - this is sad..... Picking them did work a little, but did not eliminate them completely.

I am trying not to use any chemicals in my garden so I have been trying to get rid of them by other means - not much success so far. I even got a yellow sticky trap from an online garden store.. After a few days I got just one bug... As I later discovered they were able to get out of the sticky trap and kept going after my plants!!!!

If anyone knows a non-chemical solution that will help at leat decrease their population - your input would be much appreciated!

Here's a article for you. It does recommend pyrethrin or spinosad, but both are considered "organic". They have a low residual effect. IOW, they don't remain in the environment long.

.. ceejaytown ..
You mentioned an 'article' -?-

- Magpye

Rats! Thanks, Magpye. One more time:
http://www.ghorganics.com/CucumberBeetles.htm

Found another - long, but very thorough.
http://www.attra.org/attra-pub/cucumberbeetle.html#Organic

This message was edited Jul 5, 2006 11:43 AM

And lookey there .. two, for the price of one ... (heehee)
(am merely luvinly teasin' ya, cj)

((thank you))

- Magpye

This message was edited Jul 5, 2006 12:49 PM

Did you notice the time on that empty post? I think I was trying to sneak one more thing in before my DH caught me on the computer so late. Yeah, that's it. Couldn't be my mind or lack of, could it?

(((shhhhhhh .. them fellers are sneaky, ya know))
Who do ya think us femalurns learned it from .. (LOL)

- Magpye

LOL I'll be typing away and suddenly, from the door (behind me) I'll hear "CJ!" and jump right out of my skin! And then I have to explain that I was coming right to bed - just finishing up a last sentence....and shut the thing down fast. Yep, that's sneaky.

Sometimes I'm glad I just live with my cats!

There are benefits both ways. ;-)

I'd try one of the soap and oil sprays like Veggie Pharm or Flower Pharm. It works on japanese beetles, might work here. You have to keep at it, though.