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| Coreopsis beetles munching on greenthread. |
They're baccccckkkkkkkk.
Hopefully, though, these blasted insects–commonly called the coreopsis beetle (Phaedon desotonis)–won't decimate our coreopsis plants like they did in 2012. You can read the April 9, 2012, post about our infestation here. I even sent a vial of them to Texas A&M University.
So far, I've found just a few in our back yard. I do "beetle patrols" often. A few days ago, James and I found a LOT on greenthreads across the street. So I mixed up some detergent, rubbing alcohol and water in a spray bottle and blasted them as best I could. The mixture did kill the ones that came in contact with it (photo below).
Today, I went back across the street to check, and oh, yeah, the bad beetles are still around. So I took a bowl of soapy water and hand picked and knocked them off. I know I can't get rid of ALL of them. But I'd like to think I'm putting a dent in their numbers. Also, I'm trying to head them off from attacking flowers in the Meadow.
1 comment:
I am with you on the beetle thing, though the ones showing up in increasing numbers here are the milkweed leaf beetles, looking like ladybugs on steroids. I managed to knock an entire colony of them into soapy water yesterday. They'd congregated on a watering bucket that is the green of new leaves...perhaps the color attracted them? No clue. Nearly 20 of them in one place, certainly enough to strip several plants. Ugh! Soap on!
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