Cucumber beetles are strip or blemish bugs that do damage to various types of crop . You may notice the small yellow or orange beetle grovel on flora in the cucurbit family — cucumbers , pumpkins , watermelons , squash , and zucchini . The spotted or stripy yellowish - green cucumber beetle eat shoot , bloom , and leave of absence , eventually killing your vegetables . Therefore , controlling and getting disembarrass of cuke beetles is crucial if you require to keep your crops .
Cucumber beetles are native to North America and tend to begin their destructive bodily process in June . However , their larvae can already be damaging crops even before the striped or spotted white-livered beetles emerge .
imagine you have notice several yellow beetle with fatal band on your cucumber industrial plant leaves . Or mayhap you have seen greenish - sensationalistic bugs with magnanimous ignominious dots on their back and inquire what to do .
In that case , this article has advice on identifying and getting rid of two bothersome bugs that destroy cucumber plants — the spotted cucumber mallet and the stripy cucumber beetle .
What Are Cucumber Beetles?
Cucumber beetles are plant life - feeding , disease - carry destructive insects that flow on cucurbit crops . The strip down and spotted yellow cucumber beetle place plants like cucumbers , squash , aubergine , bean , and melons . The scientific name for the stripy cucumber beetle isAcalymma vittatum , and the spotted cucumber mallet isDiabrotica undecimpunctata . Both genus are in the familyChrysomelidae .
What Do Cucumber Beetles Look Like?
Spotted Cucumis sativus beetle ( left ) and striped cucumber beetle ( right )
grownup spotted cucumber beetles measure 0.25 ” ( 6 mm ) long with a lily-livered venter and 12 comparatively big calamitous dots . The stripy cucumber beetle have like xanthous wing back but have three black bands along their back . Both beetle species have six leg , two antenna , and a opprobrious head .
Cucumber beetle larvae are hard to spot because they drop most of their biography underground crunch on cucumber root . The cucumber mallet larvae look like yellowish - white worms with black-market head and rise up to 0.47 ” ( 12 mm ) long before pupating . They also have three pairs of brown leg near their heads .
Cucumber Beetle Life Cycle
It takes 40 to 60 days from pose an egg until an grownup cuke mallet egress .
A spotty or striped cucumber beetle depart its living as a tiny oval - shaped icteric eggs that the females lay in mid - spring . It take away six to nine days for ball to hatch in idealistic weather . After the creamy - yellowish larvae hachure , they start feeding on the roots of the host industrial plant — cucumbers and other cucurbit crops .
The next stagecoach of a cucumber beetle ’s life-time cycle is pupation . The larvae construct a small bedroom in the filth to commence pupation . After six to ten day , little beetles go forth . Depending on the coinage , theyellow beetleshave a spotty or stripy abdomen .
After egress as grownup , the cucumber beetle start feeding on leave-taking , stems , and other plant matter . The adult point is when the beetle do the most damage . However , cucumber beetle larvae can also do some special scathe to crops .
How to Identify Cucumber Beetle
The two species of cucumber beetle are easy to name due to the spotted or striped markings on their chickenhearted abdomens . Striped cucumber beetles have three black bands run down the distance of their yellow backs . The spotted cucumber beetle have a brightly colored white-livered or xanthous - green back with 12 black-market spot .
What Do Cucumber Beetles Eat?
As their name intimate , the spotted and deprive yellowish beetles feed plant leaf related to cuke . Therefore , many harvest in the genusCucurbitaare at risk from mallet damage . Aside from Cucumis sativus , these beetle feed on pumpkin , squash , and watermelon foliage . However , cuke beetles will also eat up leaves from cotton , legumes , corn , and soja plants .
Cucumber Beetle Larvae Damage
Cucumber beetle start feeding on plants during their larval stage in the dirt . Although the yellowish - white grubs run on stem , the larva do minimal damage to the plant ’s overall health . However , controlling cucumber vine mallet eggs and larvae is challenge , making it hard to protect crops from mallet damage .
Signs of Cucumber Beetle Damage
Cucumber beetle damage
star sign of cuke beetle damage to crops show up in two ways . First , the adult cucumber beetles feed on plant life leafage , create holes and damaging small plant . Second , cucumber mallet channel foliar diseases likePseudomonas lachrymans , which causes bacterial wilt . The holes in leaves make it easy for the bacteria to breed fast .
There is another way of life that cucumber beetle damage cucumbers , pumpkins , squash , and melons . The adult beetle activity can scar fruit , making it look unpalatable .
The most destructive flora damage from cucumber beetle pass off while the plants are relatively young . The belittled cucurbit flora are small enough that adult cucumber beetle can apace defoliate plants . If bacterial infections occur , the plant ’s vascular scheme is affected , causing it to wilt . Beetles feeding on infect plants can quickly infect other cucumber crop .
Spotted cucumber beetle damage to plants
Adult spotted cucumber vine beetle damage a liberal chain of plants than their divest counterparts . The plant - destroy blighter can affect over 200 plant species . In plus , they are more of a nuisance in the southern United States . Also , spotted cuke mallet tend to repose eggs on corn and grasses rather than cucurbit plant .
Striped cucumber beetle damage to plants
Adult ransack cuke beetles usually target cucurbit plants and rarely attack other species . You will also find that the yellow and blackstriped beetlesare prevalent throughout the US , rather than just in the southerly state .
Where Do Cucumber Beetles Come From?
Cucumber beetles are ground on cucurbit crop and other plant life across the United States . The beetle overwinter in compost , scrap quite a little , or crop field . They then issue mid - spring from their winter hideaways , where the female will rapidly set eggs in the grime . eventually , a new propagation of cucumber beetle issue from the base of the plants to start their destructive behavior .
How to Get Rid of Cucumber Beetles
Getting disembarrass of cucumber beetles can be challenge . The minor yellowish and fateful spotted or striped beetles can be too tiny to handpick from plant . Additionally , cucumber beetles are most combat-ready from late evening until the first light , pee them difficult to locate on crops .
Suppose your cucumber plants , Citrullus vulgaris , pumpkin vine , or squash are reaching maturity . In that case , getting disembarrass of the galling bugs is not necessary . The mallet impairment only affects immature plants , and older crops are n’t affected by defoliation .
Here are some ways you may sample and decimate cucumber beetle if you see the striped or spotted glitch on your cucurbit crops . In many cases , using a multi - faceted approach is in effect to ensure you reduce beetle population as much as potential .
Beneficial Insects Kill Cucumber Beetles
Many good dirt ball target on Cucumis sativus beetles and can serve get free of them from your vegetable patch . Natural enemies of cucumber vine mallet include tachinid flies , harvestmen , braconid wasps , and soldier beetles . There is also some grounds to suggest that bat and predatory mites are excellent biological control methods .
agree to somestudies , nematode can efficaciously pop Cucumis sativus beetle larvae before they issue from the land and begin eat your plant life . Therefore , soil - douse preparations using nematodes in late drop or early springtime could aid pour down larvae and prevent a Cucumis sativus beetle infestation .
Neem Oil Can Kill Immature Cucumber Beetles
Ahomemade DIY neem vegetable oil spraycould effectively eradicate immature cucumber beetles in mid to late natural spring . To make a neem crude bug spray , combine 2 tsp . neem oil , 1 tsp . Castile soap and 1 quart ( 1 50 ) of water supply in a spray bottle . shake off well and spray munificently on foliage in the evening . Repeat every seven day to get disembarrass of the beetles .
Neem oil can be effective on bug larvae and unfledged worm because it contains azadirachtin — a natural pesticide . Researchon neem fossil oil extracts says that they disrupt the growing of eggs , forestall larvae from produce , and inhibit eating .
Use neem oil to kill cucumber beetle larvae
Neem oil could also serve control cucumber beetle larvae living in the soil . To use this soil drench method , you must apply the resolution in early spring . To make neem oil solution , use 2 tbsp . neem oil per 1 gal ( 3.7l ) of water . Then , irrigate your lawn using a hosepipe sprayer or watering can . Finally , water your veg patch once a calendar week in outflow to kill off cucumber beetle larvae .
Handpick Cucumber Beetles to Eradicate Them
Have you noticed a big infestation of cucumber beetle on your cucurbit crops ? If so , you may necessitate to remove the pesky bugs manually . It may be too sly to handpick individual beetles . However , some gardeners have successfully used a folio cetacean / emptiness to blow up tumid numbers of cucumber beetles from plants .
If you notice signs of bacterial wilt disease on your crop , you should remove the plants immediately . Beetles feeding on infected plants can easily channelise the bacterium to other plants in your yard .
How to Control Cucumber Beetles
If cucumber beetles have been a problem in your expanse , alertness from other leap is life-sustaining for master beetle population . Some good control method for cucumber beetles admit quarrel cover , using mulch or reflective mulches , or apply kaolin clay to the soil .
Use Row Covers for Cucumber Beetle Control
After plant cucumber vine seeds or other cucurbit plants , it ’s vital to use floating quarrel covering fire to keep beetles away from plants . The ideal clip for row covers is from early June . However , this control method is only effectual for check cucumber beetle until your plant life start to blossom . This is because you must remove the blanket to earmark for pollenation .
Use Mulch to Deter Cucumber Beetles
Mulch is another path to hold in cucumber mallet activity and protect your crops . mulch around cropshelps protect the plants in several way of life . First , it help prevent orchis egg laying and subsequent larva from emerging from the grime . However , mulch also encourage habitat for mallet vulture and boosts land microorganisms which , in turn , advance plant wellness .
Somestudies suggestthat reflective atomic number 13 mulch can help reduce the number of cucumber beetles on crops . In addition , the mulch has a repelling natural action that keep nasty creatures like aphids and cucumber mallet from feeding on crop . This also help trim back the transmission of bacterial wilting between plants .
Companion Planting Can Help Control Cucumber Beetle Numbers
One natural means to control Cucumis sativus beetles without using chemical is companion planting . Also prognosticate intercropping , this is a method acting of planting crops that beat back cucumber beetle alongside cucurbit plants . Plants act as as a cucumber beetle deterrent include radish , Brassica oleracea italica , and nasturtium .
Another method of using natural beetle control methods include planting trap crop . This idea is to rise a few squash plants that attract a high numeral of cucumber beetle . Using this method , you’re able to draw destructive beetles aside from your main crop . However , this may not solve for all small gardens .
Kaolin Clay Can Help Control Cucumber Beetles
Kaolin clay is a natural cucumber beetle repellent that can help to see population . spray cucurbit with kaolin mud make a sticky coating to build up on their aerial , making it difficult for them to find their way around your grounds .
Studies intimate interracial consequence from using kaolin clay for cucumber beetle control . However , it may work out for your vegetable patch if you use it in conjunction with other control methods .
How to Prevent Cucumber Beetles
The best way to deal with cucumber beetle in your yard is to forbid them from manifold in the first plaza . In many cases , harvest rotation and planting beetle - resistant potpourri of cucurbits can help eradicate problem with cucumber beetle . Here are a few handy methods of ascertain that uncase or spotted beetles do n’t ruin your crop .
Plant Resistant Varieties of Crops
Some variety of cucumbers , squash , melon vine , and garden egg are specially selected to be less attractive to Cucumis sativus mallet . These craw assortment have lower level of the chemical cucurbitacin , which pull in the mallet . Planting these resistant varieties may mean that the beetles go elsewhere research for food .
Crop Rotation Can Help Control Cucumber Beetles
spread out crop is a tried and tested method acting of trim cuss infestation in constituent gardening . The emergence with cucumber vine beetles is that they tend to overwinter nearby the previous year ’s crop . Therefore , you could seek to prevent a mallet intrusion by planting next yr ’s crop aside from the previous one .
Although crop rotation is just pattern for constitutional farming without chemical substance , it is n’t the single effectual method to prevent cuke beetles from being a pain .
Planting Later in the Season
Cucumber beetle are active in mid to previous May when they start to lay their eggs . Therefore , planting cucurbit crops in mid - June could serve prevent adult beetles from destroying crops . By this time , the peak of beetle alimentation has conk , and your crop have a well fortune of live .
Other Preventative Methods of Eradicating Cucumber Beetle Damage
Here are other way to significantly reduce the problems cucumber beetles can make in a vegetable patch :
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