Topic: Sweet Pea Bugs

[Geordie Ski-ier]

I have a lady next to my plot who has a problem with small black bugs on the inside of her Sweet Pea flowers. They seem to be enclosed in the flower. Anyone know what they could be and is there a remedy? She only noticed them when she found loads of bugs in her house and wondered where they came from.

[shirlton]

It's the rape beetle. If you pick the flowers and put them in the dark somewhere like a garage or shed and leave a door open so that the light shines in at the other end then they will all come out into the light. When I used to show them some years ago this is what we had to do. They are harmless but who want them in the house. It does work believe me

[Toadspawn]

It's the Pollen Beetle (don't know the latin name). It feeds on pollen and builds upvery rapidly on oilseed rape in the spring. For some reason it finds sweet pea flowers very attractive.
The beetles will always fly to light so as Shirlton said placing the flowers away from a window will always get rid of the beetles because tey fly to the light.

[Joolieeee]

I've had one wigwam of sweet peas absolutely covered in greenfly - the other 5ft away virtually untouched.