Asiatic Garden Beetle

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ponyexpress
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Joined: Wed Jun 03, 2020 4:47 am
Location: Mass, 6b

Asiatic Garden Beetle

#1

Post: # 26937Unread post ponyexpress
Thu Jul 30, 2020 9:23 am

I noticed my strawberry plants were getting decimated by something. Same for a few of my pepper plants.
No sign of the pest during the day time. So I went outside with bug repellent and a flash light around 10pm.

Saw the strawberry leaves were covered with a small brown bug called the Asiatic Garden Beetle. They were eating the leaves and maybe sucking on the leaves/green berries/stems and fornicating. Uggh. I spent almost two hours hand picking them and have been doing that every night for the past week. I'm making a dent in the population. Probably only picked ~50 last night.

Saw them on my strawberry plants, peppers, basil, rosemary and raspberry plants.

Any advice for me?

I saw some suggestions about setting up a light bulb above a bucket of soapy water. Will try to rig something this weekend. There's an organic pesticide called Btg that will deal with grubs and adults. Costs around $80!!!

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ponyexpress
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Joined: Wed Jun 03, 2020 4:47 am
Location: Mass, 6b

Re: Asiatic Garden Beetle

#2

Post: # 26939Unread post ponyexpress
Thu Jul 30, 2020 9:27 am

Here is a dead one on the ground
FE583A19-8D01-4AA7-91BB-B56814BD52F2.jpeg
In my hand
209C9249-97F4-49E6-A44C-7064FE441E06.jpeg
A bucket of dead beetles. Definitely use a little dish detergent so they drown right away. Otherwise they will float on top for awhile.
D74693E0-D665-4963-837B-2953C4C5BD5B.jpeg
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pepperhead212
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Location: Woodbury, NJ

Re: Asiatic Garden Beetle

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Post: # 26986Unread post pepperhead212
Fri Jul 31, 2020 12:04 am

I was also thinking of Bt, but, you found out the price is prohibitive! It's probably the same Bt used for cucumber beatles, which costs a lot more. And Surround would not be good for any of those things - it's a PITA to get off of herbs, or small fruits, which is everything you say it's on! Maybe try some sort of insecticidal soap, sprayed at night, when they seem to come out? Or neem oil? Whatever, I hope you get a handle on them, quickly.
Woodbury, NJ zone 7a/7b

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