Question for American members

[Losos]

Can the Colorado beetle fly :?: - We've got them and I'm asking because I've a very good report from Ric Bessin of the University of Kentucky which describes the life cycle of this horrible little beasty. He doesn't mention it flying, and in the dictionary of animals published by Tiscali.co.uk it says they can fly up to several kilometres. All the ones I've picked off my potatoes don't look like they can fly & Mr. Bessin says they crawl up from deep in the ground.
UK readers just thank your lucky stars you don't have this monster in Britain.

 

[PowerTool]

Yes,have been free of Colorado beetle for a long time now - but it is still a notifiable pest (if seen anywhere,must be reported to the Ministry)

It's not nice

 

[SlimShavings]

I lived in Colorado mountains for years. Millions of acres of pines are dead. And now here in Tennessse the same thing has happened. Funny thing though . People just love the look of that blue color in the wood. So if you get it at the right time its still usable. Not very funny when your driving down the road and a tree just keels over in front of you.. overall we can do without it.
Anyway my understanding was that it didn't fly . Just munched its way across the landscape. I think there importing something from Asia to feed on it, That way we can have some new thing later to deal with. Mike probably has it out there in UT too

 

[Losos]

Slim - Thanks, my problem is with potatoes, they just love eating the leaves. Ric Bessin (University of Kentucky) says that they overwinter deep in the soil and crawl up the plant in early spring, lay their eggs which hatch into larvae which then crawl back into the soil to become pupae, & ultimately adults when the cycle starts all over again. Apparently this can all happen in as little as 21 days so within about 9 or 10 weeks you can have thousands of the little blighters chomping away. If I can pick the adult off the plant *before* they lay their eggs there is some control but I wondered why they didn't fly away. I think Tiscali.co.uk is just plain wrong when they say they can fly.

 

[SlimShavings]

Losos
Over hear its the japanese beetles that are eating the leave off the potates, corn ,sunflower ,grapes but not so much the beans. First year Ive seen that

 

[Losos]

Slim - Japanese beetle :?: Wow, that's one I don't think we have in Europe.........yet :lol: What do they look like :?:

 

[SlimShavings]

Losos
Japanese Beetles are about the size of your little fingernail. They are a nice fluorescent greenish purple. And they do fly. They are very horny creatures. you'll verylikely see one on top of another. They are around for about 3 or 4 months and then lay there eggs in the ground and die. The eggs become grubbs, Which attract the moles and voles. We were given them by our good freinds south of the border.

Dave

 

[Losos]

Slim - They sound pretty nasty & imported too :wink: Apparently, according to Nic Bessin the Colorado beetle only became a pest after those nice Europeans brought some potatoes over to you Before that they just used to munch on weeds!!

 

[RogerS]

So why is it called 'Colorado' ? Just curious :lol:

 

[SlimShavings]

The Colorado potato beetle was first discovered by Thomas Nuttal in 1811 and described in 1824 by Thomas Say from specimens collected in the Rocky Mountains on buffalo-bur, Solanum rostratum Ramur. The insect's association with the potato plant, Solanum tuberosum (L.), was not known until about 1859 when it began destroying potato crops about 100 miles west of Omaha, Nebraska. The insect began its rapid spread eastward, reaching the Atlantic coast by 1874.

The evolution of the name "Colorado potato beetle" is curious since the beetle did not originate in Colorado but is believed to have originated in central Mexico. It had a series of names from 1863 to 1867, including the "ten-striped spearman," "ten-lined potato beetle," "potato-bug" and "new potato bug." Colorado was not connected to the insect until Walsh (1865) stated that two of his colleagues had seen large numbers of the insect in the territory of Colorado feeding on buffalo-bur. This convinced him that it was native to Colorado. It was C.V. Riley (1867) who first used the combination: Colorado potato beetle.

 

[tim]

Apparently, according to Nic Bessin the Colorado beetle only became a pest after those nice Europeans brought some potatoes over to you

Unless I'm missing the irony here, I think that you'll find that the potato deal was the other way round. Walter Raleigh to QE1.

Cheers

Tim

 

[Losos]

Tim, I thought it was tobacco that Walter Raleigh brought back However, I was quoting a source which said potatoes were introduced to America by the early settlers. Does sound a little suspect, and I'm happy to go with you on this, what I'm not happy with is the total destruction the little blighters are wreecking on my spuds I have discovered from another source that they can fly, 'tho not very well and not very far (About half a mile max.) This means that my fiendishly clever plan of blasting the soil with a flame thrower this winter will not work :x So I think I'll just give the spuds a miss next year.

 

[SlimShavings]

You can dust with Rotenone (its an organic) or Sevin and I think there is a soap you can spray that keeps them away. And I don't think they like tobacco juice sprayed on the leaves.
All my potates ,tomates and sqash are slowly dying from a blight brought here by my Irish ancestors. :lol: Its is sad to walk out there and see everything turning brown

Dave

 

[Jaco]

I have used a tobacco-spray over the years for aphids and other "pests".
Some hot water, tobacco - let it soak, strain and spray.

Some tobacco dust also very good to get rid of slugs/snails.

Phil


8)

 

[Losos]

Phil & Dave - Many thanks for the info on tobacco juice Ric Bessin (University of Kentucky) mentioned quite a lot of insecticides in his paper but also pointed out that these beetles are particularly good & quick at building up a resisitance to them. He didn't mention tobacco juice & although it's a bit late for this year (We've just uplifted what's left of our crop) I'll certainly give it a go next year. I was all for giving up but LOML want's to try again next year.