what beetle would attack tomatoes and kale?

[alivia]

I'm trying to figure out if it's a longhorned beetle or a blister beetle. It's black, long & skinny. The weird (and most distinctive?) thing about it is its poop. The first time I saw its poop under our row covers, I thought a rodent had gotten in. That was until I saw a couple of these beetles on my tomato plants, which were covered in what looked like mouse poop again. I noticed this poop coming out of the back of one of the beetles in a long strand.

TMI? Sorry! Maybe it's not even poop, but something else they are putting out for some reason. But I've never seen anything like it. Figured maybe someone else would have seen it before and might shed some light on what I'm dealing with.

We do live in a Midwest rural area, and we do grow hay - not alfalfa, which they say is a huge draw to the blister beetles. We also have a major grasshopper issue going on right now, but I flicked a couple of these beetles off the tomatoes the other night and had no blistery reaction.

Say I never identify them and just want to get rid of them. Any homemade organic options to share for beetle control?

[LaurieG]

No idea, but I think I've got them too. Except mine has red markings on the back. So far I have not been able to find a picture that looks exactly like them.

I'll be watching responses with interest.

[alivia]

I think I've got mine identified as a blister beetle. Mine are black with a big white stripe down the back. The droppings were the key. Everyone else's experiences with blister beetles that I could find talked about their disgusting droppings all over the plants, and it's so true.

Here's what I'm doing for control:

I am handpicking them, but not with gloves. I actually cut them in half with my shears, but more bug-friendly folks might not like that particular method.

Thing is, mine are not all that fast, so they're pretty easy to get that way. I also bought some DE and put it under each affected plant, then under a few more down the row in case they migrated. When you shake the plant, they will generally fall off....right into the DE I placed there was my thinking.

My organic gardening friend (and my expert on these things) suggested a bacteria called spinosad. I couldn't find it at Lowe's, but here's a link from Garden's Alive:

http://www.gardensalive.com/product.asp?pn=8756

And here's a link to the best general information I found on the topic of blister beetles. I learned quite a bit in this blog post:

http://inmykitchengarden.blogspot.co...-on-71706.html

Good luck to us both!

[LaurieG]

Good luck! The thought of hand picking blister beetles is not very exciting to me but better than the alternative of letting them continue to eat my entire garden and leave their disgusting poop everywhere.

Off to read your links...

[LaurieG]

So now that I've read more about these blister beetles, and have determined that is certainly what I have, I'm curious how you are managing to pick them without gloves? Are you getting blisters or how are you avoiding it?

I (or rather my dear mother) dusted my garden with lime and flour today since I was working and didn't have time to start picking. I checked this evening and still saw plenty of beetles but not as many as before. I'm not sure if the lime/ flour thing is supposed to kill them or just make them want to leave, but I'm not thinking it is doing the trick.

Mine aren't really fast, but they fly off if you come too close. Do yours fly?

The garden shop near me carries the bacteria. I may try that next since I'm still really grossed out at the thought of picking them.

Thanks for the tips!

Oh, 1 more thought - have you found anything talking about whether they have likely laid eggs. Wondering if I should be prepared for a second wave.

[alivia]

I haven't touched them w/ my hands. I try to cut them in half with my garden shears while they are still on the plant. It sounds evil, but any way you look at it, we're killing them. This way I don't have to touch them. Mine haven't tried to fly away. They try to drop to the ground and run off or burrow into the dirt. I try to stomp them if they do this.

I don't know about a second wave, but I've started to check my plants daily if possible. they seem to move in on a plant fast!

A quick warning: I took down a big patch of weeds near the affected plants in hopes that if the weeds were harboring them, it would help get rid of them. MISTAKE! They were on four more tomato plants by the next day. I guess their safe harbor came down, so it was time to move on.

I picked them off the plants, but I'm now reminding myself, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." So true in an organic garden where everything is interrelated!

If you do the bacteria I'd love to hear how it works out.