Potato Bugs
- Potato bugs eat potato leaves. This will eventually kill the plant because it can’t produce chlorophyll which is a plant food source.
- Adult beetles are about 1/3 of an inch long (50mm) with orangey-red coloured heads and a black bodies and yellow stripes.
- They attach their orange eggs to the underside of leaves.
- When the larva hatch they are orangey-red with two rows of black dots down each side.
- You can pick off the eggs, larva or the adult beetles from the plant and squash them.
- Remember to search the underside of the leaves when looking for the eggs.
- If you have well-fed chickens enclosed in a potato patch they will find and eat the pests.
- Mulch well and use a floating row cover.
- This will only work against the Colorado Potato Bug because they can survive through the winter in the
 .
- If you plant potatoes in a different location each year it will reduce the number of bugs ’hibernating’ in the .
- You can apply pesticides called Bacillus Thuringiensus, Pyrethrum, or Pyrethrum and Rotenone mixed to kill potato bugs.
- Read the directions very carefully and ask for an adult’s help to mix it properly.
- Diatomaceous earth is a special mixture you can buy at a gardening store that can destroy the larvae.
- Again, read the instructions carefully before applying it to your potato plants.
- If your garden is under severe attack, apply Bacillus Thunngiens San Diego (“M-One”, “Bonide’s Colorado Potato Beetle”, etc.) as soon as larva begin feeding.
- Be sure to penetrate leaf and flower buds with the spray and don’t wait to use it.
- It can be very effective on the larvae but it doesn’t work on adult bugs.
- In Peru there is a wasp called Edovum Puttleri that will destroy the Colorado potato beetles.
- They are commercially available but you should read about them first and consult an expert before you try this method of control.
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