Bug ID?
 

Hello,
There is a new marauder into my eggplants that I have never seen
before, and that is not in my Audubon Insect book.
It is a beetle, about the size and roundness of a garbanzo bean.
It is shiney, grey/beige and has three grey/black stripes down its
back plus on each side a curved row of black dots.
The babies are mostly grey.
They are very squishable, so the exterior is not firm like a
Japanese beetle.
I've found 3 types of egg clusters under the leaves... bright
orange, black, and white (so I don't know what the two that are not
these beetles might be spawning).
They are just devouring the eggplant leaves. Everyday I find new
ones I have missed, but they are a lot easier than, say, aphids. I
just need to go out there everyday and pick them off.
But does anyone know what these are? I've had the garden 10
years and have never seen them before.
Thanks.
Kira

Kira Dirlik wrote:
They are just devouring the eggplant leaves.

Please describe the pattern of "devouring." Do they nibble at the leaf
edges? Make tiny holes all over the leaf? Make curvy channels from
the edge to the center? Eat everything except the veins, leaving a
leaf "skeleton?"

Daniel B. Martin

On 2005-09-01, Kira Dirlik !! wrote:
Hello,
There is a new marauder into my eggplants that I have never seen
before, and that is not in my Audubon Insect book.
It is a beetle, about the size and roundness of a garbanzo bean.
It is shiney, grey/beige and has three grey/black stripes down its
back plus on each side a curved row of black dots.
The babies are mostly grey.
They are very squishable, so the exterior is not firm like a
Japanese beetle.
I've found 3 types of egg clusters under the leaves... bright
orange, black, and white (so I don't know what the two that are not
these beetles might be spawning).
They are just devouring the eggplant leaves. Everyday I find new
ones I have missed, but they are a lot easier than, say, aphids. I
just need to go out there everyday and pick them off.
But does anyone know what these are? I've had the garden 10
years and have never seen them before.
Thanks.
Kira

I thought colorado potato beetle at first but it has too many stripes.
The other thing I found was the striped cucumber beetle that has
stripes, but I saw on dots.

Try googling those two.
--
Wes Dukes (wdukes.pobox@com) Swap the . and the @ to email me please.

is a garbage address.

On Thu, 01 Sep 2005 20:00:41 GMT, "Daniel B. Martin"
wrote:

Kira Dirlik wrote:
They are just devouring the eggplant leaves.

Please describe the pattern of "devouring." Do they nibble at the leaf
edges? Make tiny holes all over the leaf? Make curvy channels from
the edge to the center? Eat everything except the veins, leaving a
leaf "skeleton?"

Daniel B. Martin

They are cleanly eating from the edge of the leaf inward until the
leaf is totally gone. Nothing messy, very clean (except their poops
on the leaves below.) (Flea beetles they are NOT.)
As for Wes' question, the 3 stripes down the back are vague, middle
one being the strongest, but the row of black spots is definite and
prominent. They look like little old fashioned volkswagons.

On Fri, 02 Sep 2005 16:14:42 GMT, wrote:
I thought colorado potato beetle at first but it has too many stripes.
The other thing I found was the striped cucumber beetle that has
stripes, but I saw on dots.

Try googling those two.
--
Wes Dukes (wdukes.pobox@com) Swap the . and the @ to email me please.

No, not the potato beetle. This guy is much rounder, and is not red.
He is beige. And the 3 stripes are very subtle. Maybe it is not a
beetle, because there seems to be no division down the back. It is a
solid shell. And it is squishy and kind of moist. The babies and
teens (which eat in clumps of 3 or 4) are actually wet when one
fingers them off onto the ground to stomp them. As I said, I sure
have never seen anything like them before.
(I have them under control... easy to see and remove) but I am just
curious to have a name for them. Thanks.
Kira

Kira Dirlik wrote:
They are cleanly eating from the edge of the leaf inward until the
leaf is totally gone. Nothing messy, very clean ...

The damage pattern is the same as the Colorado Potaro Beetle and its
larvae. However, in another post you say it is not the CPB.
Therefore it is something new to me.

My eggplant foliage attracts a variety of insect pests. I see them up
close since my pest control method is hand picking. Just two days ago
I found a beetle which is new to me... and its appearance fits your
"garbanzo bean" description. Uh-oh.

Daniel B. Martin

Kira Dirlik wrote:
No, not the potato beetle. This guy is much rounder, and is not red.
He is beige. And the 3 stripes are very subtle.

The damage pattern is the same as the Colorado Potato Beetle and its
larvae. However, you say it is not the CPB. Therefore it is something
new to me.

My eggplant foliage attracts a variety of insect pests. I see them up
close since my pest control method is hand picking. Just two days ago
I found a beetle which is new to me... and its appearance fits your
"garbanzo bean" description. Uh-oh.

Daniel B. Martin

On Sun, 04 Sep 2005 17:04:28 GMT, "Daniel B. Martin"
wrote:

Kira Dirlik wrote:
No, not the potato beetle. This guy is much rounder, and is not red.
He is beige. And the 3 stripes are very subtle.

The damage pattern is the same as the Colorado Potato Beetle and its
larvae. However, you say it is not the CPB. Therefore it is something
new to me.

My eggplant foliage attracts a variety of insect pests. I see them up
close since my pest control method is hand picking. Just two days ago
I found a beetle which is new to me... and its appearance fits your
"garbanzo bean" description. Uh-oh.

Daniel B. Martin

Another point I forgot to make. It cannot fly. The back does not
divide into wings, but is solid. Be sure to get rid of them. When I
first saw just one, I accidently dropped it and couldn't find it.
When I checked a few days later, I found about 50 babies of varying
sizes and the egg clusters on the underside of the eggplant leaves.
So far they have not gone to other plants. They seem to be very
prolific. Every day I think I have found them all, and then the next
day there are a few more.
Kira