Recently I had an invasion of blister beetles in my greenhouse. They stripped the leaves of my eggplant down to skeletons and they left an amazing amount of black beetle poop on the leaves of neighboring pepper plants. I managed to kill all but one and I got him a few days later.
When I took my tiller to my friend who can "weld anything but a broken heart," I mentioned the nasty little beetles. My friend said they're all over his tomatoes. This friend always grows bushels of tomatoes and he isn't shy about using chemicals. Last year he accidentally killed twenty-six tomato plants with over-spray from killing weeds with Roundup. I imagine he will come up with some kind of nasty solution to the problem.
Yesterday I was out working in the garden. First I watered the bed where I planted seeds for my fall vegetables. When I went to water an acorn squash plant, I chased a couple of blister beetles out of the weeds.
Often, when discovered on a plant, the blister beetles will drop to the ground and play dead. When chased out of the weeds, they run and try to hide in the mulch. This makes them easy to step on, but hard to photograph. I searched carefully and didn't find more, although I did find a few more leaf-footed bugs.
This picture is indistinct and there are water droplets on the bug's back, but it's likely that any beetle with this body shape and one-half to one inches long is a blister beetle. Touching them is a bad idea, since they release a nasty chemical which, surprise!, causes blisters and other discomfort. They are also quite toxic and should not be ingested by livestock, pets or children. Or adult gardeners. At this stage of their lives, drowning in soapy water or crushing with boot toe or gloved fingers is probably the best way to get rid of them.
Blister beetles can do significant damage to plants, particularly tomatoes, peppers, eggplants and leafy crops such as kale. For more information on blister beetles and organic controls, visit planetnatural.com.
Stephen
When I took my tiller to my friend who can "weld anything but a broken heart," I mentioned the nasty little beetles. My friend said they're all over his tomatoes. This friend always grows bushels of tomatoes and he isn't shy about using chemicals. Last year he accidentally killed twenty-six tomato plants with over-spray from killing weeds with Roundup. I imagine he will come up with some kind of nasty solution to the problem.
Yesterday I was out working in the garden. First I watered the bed where I planted seeds for my fall vegetables. When I went to water an acorn squash plant, I chased a couple of blister beetles out of the weeds.
Often, when discovered on a plant, the blister beetles will drop to the ground and play dead. When chased out of the weeds, they run and try to hide in the mulch. This makes them easy to step on, but hard to photograph. I searched carefully and didn't find more, although I did find a few more leaf-footed bugs.
This picture is indistinct and there are water droplets on the bug's back, but it's likely that any beetle with this body shape and one-half to one inches long is a blister beetle. Touching them is a bad idea, since they release a nasty chemical which, surprise!, causes blisters and other discomfort. They are also quite toxic and should not be ingested by livestock, pets or children. Or adult gardeners. At this stage of their lives, drowning in soapy water or crushing with boot toe or gloved fingers is probably the best way to get rid of them.
Blister beetles can do significant damage to plants, particularly tomatoes, peppers, eggplants and leafy crops such as kale. For more information on blister beetles and organic controls, visit planetnatural.com.
Stephen
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