Topic: Colorado Beetle

[Busby]

Having just looked up the CB in Wikipedia I see that the UK has remained free of this pest. I have to go every day to pick the things off of my potatoes otherwise I'll lose the whole crop just as my neighbour is going to do, his plants are absolutely swarming with these beetles and are down to the bare ribs of the leaves. I've never had such a year with so many of them. I live just near Zurich and assume that the long, dry spell has played a role in the development of this pest - I say this because as far as I know Colorado is also a dry place so the picture would fit. Apparently farmers can buy the needed pesticide but for small gardens/allotments the stuff is too dangerous.

Maybe someone has a tip or two?   

[Bugloss2009]

well if anyone here was unlucky enough to find one, we'd have to report it.

we had a poster of it in my Junior school ( it was a farming area), and they had another one in or outside the Village Police Station (remember them?)

[Digeroo]

I also remember the posters.  Am I right they are stripey.  Never seen one.  Zurich a bit too close for comfort.

I wonder whether they will take the cross channel ferry or take the tunnel.

[artichoke]

I remember finding one in Caithness (Scotland) as a teenager, and taking it to tiny local police station. They were polite, but I don't know what they did with it.

[chriscross1966]

Finding one in Caithness would set off a panic in the seed potato growing areas of Scotland I expect...... It was a reportable pest when I was a kid adn I can remember the posters at school .... we were a rural area so a lot of kids lived on or near farms......

[meg_gordon]

Seems it is still a reportable find -  this is from Wikipedia - and like the others, I remember the posters at school - and again I grew up in Ayrshire, where summer potatoes were (and still are) the principle crop.

Meg


In 1877, the Colorado beetle reached Germany where it was eradicated. During or immediately following WWI, it became established near USA military bases in Bordeaux and proceeded to spread by the beginning of WWII to Belgium, the Netherlands and Spain. The population increased dramatically during and immediately following WWII and spread eastward, and the beetle is now found over much of the continent. After World War II, in the Soviet occupation zone of Germany, almost half of all potato fields were infested by the beetle by 1950. The government of East Germany used this for propaganda, claiming that the beetles had been dropped by the United States Army Air Forces.[5] In the EU it remains a regulated (quarantine) pest for the UK, Republic of Ireland, Balearic Islands, Cyprus, Malta and southern parts of Sweden and Finland. It is not present in any of these Member States

[Busby]

I have had two direct emails full of interesting facts and advice from a source in the USA for which I am thankful. The terrible thing is that I found a number of these pests on my celeriac this morning so now I'm casting an eye on everything I have growing - especially my tomatoes... There's something else too - The discarded foliage of the potatoes I have already taken as new potatoes and which I left in the sun to dry before adding to the compost heap is full of beetles. So... I'll have to find another solution here too.
Another neighbour, not the one mentioned in my original posting, had soooo many that he cut his potato plants back to save what he could and surprisingly they are developing new shoots so he hasn't lost hope yet.

[Larkshall]

I live near Cambridge and the only one I have ever seen was in Holland when I was on holiday some years ago. As we have a lot of trade with Holland I suspect that we may eventually get them come over with the produce from there.

[daitheplant]

Busby, are you finding the actual beetle, or a spotted larva? Because if you are finding a greyish larva with dark spots, then you probably are killing what we in the UK call Ladybirds. They are good guys. ;D

[royforster]

I live in SW France and discover CB on my spuds for the first time this year. I first found yellow/orange egg clusters under the leaves when watering. I had no idea what they were - but wikipedia helped. I then found the larvae and the adults. I've been squashing for about 3 weeks and seem to be keeping them contained. They don't seem to have invaded my polytunnel yet, but I have found them on a separate bed on my aubergines. A French organic web site suggests growing annual blue flax in between rows to deter them - but too late for this year. It also advises growing castor oil plants at the end of rows. Apparently the larvae love castor oil leaves, but are poisoned by them. I've just planted some seeds in the polytunnel and hope for a quick germination. Here's the web link - http://www.gerbeaud.com/jardin/jardinage_naturel/lin-pomme-de-terre-doryphore.php
If you don't speak French use google translate ot babelfish to get a rough English translation.
Hope this helps.
Roy