Friday, July 3, 2015

Colorado Potato Beetles (Leptinotarsa decemlineata)

Colorado Potato Beetles  (Leptinotarsa decemlineata):  Yes, I have them.

Bucolic?  Yes.    Bliss?  Not always.
The one on the left is twerking.
My distrust of pin-striped suits is founded on bitter experience.  Image from HERE.  Pictures of larvae were from my garden.
Unfortunately, Sevin (carbaryl) is not controlling them any more.  I sprayed 6 hours ago.  I just completed a garden walk-through and was able to find 20, large larvae.  It seemed to be effective on the smaller larvae but it was marginal on the large ones.

It is time to change insecticide.

I wish I had some kind of "trap" crop.  Surely there must be varietal differences in how attractive potatoes are to CPB.

---Addendum:  King Harry potato is reputed to be unattractive to CPB.  Viking Purple is reputed to yield well even when stressed by CPB and, additionally, is fairly resistant to scab.  Superior was suggested as a trap crop due to its early emergence.

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