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| Beetles be gone. |
I suppose we're in for another infestation of these things come spring. Rats rats rats!!!!
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| I drowned quite a few of the nasty insects, which are kind of pretty, actually. |
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| Coreopsis leaves and stems damaged by these dratted beetles. |
Monday, December 10, 2012
One beetle I can't stand
Last April, I reported on finding huge populations of a small metallic brown beetle, feeding on our greenthreads and coreopsis. (See "Beetle infestation!" and "More on beetle infestation.") I am very tolerant of nearly every species in our Wildscape. EXCEPT this one: Phaedon desotonis. It is one beetle that I will smush on sight, often with relish.
Yesterday, when I was in the back yard, checking on plants, I glanced over at the coreopsis and spotted oodles of my arch enemy, feasting on the leaves. ARGH! So I went back in the house and fetched a bowl of water with one drop of liquid dish soap added. Then I proceeded to knock down and pinch off the offenders. I also dug around in the debris and found more attached to the underside of leaves and twigs. Grrrr.
I suppose we're in for another infestation of these things come spring. Rats rats rats!!!!
I suppose we're in for another infestation of these things come spring. Rats rats rats!!!!
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4 comments:
Ewww, what a mess. Does freezing knock them out?
One can only hope. And, for one, am HOPING!
Sheryl, it's hard to judge size ... Are these beetles about the size of those little bugs called leaf hoppers? They remind me of large fleas and eat holes in the leaves of plants. They, also, have a rather metallic sheen.
These bad boy beetles measure about 1/8 inches or so. Small. But mean. :-)
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