On Mon, 06 Feb 2006 21:45:21 -0600, bluegill wrote:

Ever since I moved to the country my garden has been plagued by picnic
beetles.
I have 5 30 ft rows of raspberry's, had strawberries, and usually plant
watermelon, cantaloupe, sometimes corn, cucumbers a couple of tomatoes,
etc. The biggest problem I have is with the raspberries. These have 2
crops/ yr. The problem is I cannot wait till they are ripe and go out
and pick without finding many of them with beetles in or on the fruit.
When I lived 15 miles from here I had never seen a picnic beetle. I try
to pick up as much fallen or over ripe fruit as possible and removing it
from my rows but they seam to get really thick after the first week or
so of my late July early August harvest. I have heavy clay soil. These
things can fly and I understand they feed on rip fruit and lay eggs in
the ground. I get them in tomatoes, corn, apples, and if a watermelon,
or cantaloupe should crack , they are drawn to it like a magnet. I
would love to plant strawberries again but don't want to deal with the
beetles. When you go to pick a nice raspberry and you may sometime find
several picnic beetles inside, you loose your desire to pick them. The
only time I don't have to worry so much is after a couple of frosts that
may kill the beetles, but not the berries.


Does anyone have any suggestions on how to deal with these pests? I
love growing and eating raspberries and strawberries, but can't stand
the beetles!!!!

Thanks

I have ever had to deal with them personally, but I read a fact sheet on
the from MSU. Here's a bit from that page:

"Integrated Picnic Beetle Management
For the "whatever flies, dies" crowd this insect is too mobile to have an
impact on with an aerosol or spray rig. The best strategy is to "trick,
trap and zap".

Trick

Before an outdoor event that includes food and/or beverage put out a flat
pan with melon rinds, tomato slices, or any other over ripe fruit. Place
the pans twenty to thirty feet from where people will be eating or buffet
table. Do this about a half hour before your guests arrive. This will
trick the little guys into believing that dinner is served.

Trap and Zap

Spray the baits with a household spray containing a pyretheroid
insecticide. This will kill them outright or make them too sick to fly.

http://www.ent.msu.edu/Extension/WBY...%20Beetles.htm

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