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Colorado potato beetle
Insect or pest Leptinotarsa decemlineata · also called potato bug
How to spot it
Round, yellow beetles about 3/8 inch long with 10 black stripes. The larvae are humped, reddish-orange with rows of black spots. Orange-yellow eggs stand in groups under leaves.
What it does
Adults and larvae strip the leaves and can leave potatoes and eggplant bare.
What to do now
- Pick adults and larvae into soapy water, and crush the egg groups.
- Shake plants over a tray in the morning.
- Spray spinosad, or Bt made for beetles (Bt tenebrionis) on young larvae, following the label.
Keep it away next time
- Plant potatoes and eggplant as far as you can from last year's spot.
- Cover plants with row cover until they're big.
- A thick straw mulch slows beetles coming out of the soil.
- Early potatoes finish before the second round of beetles.
Helpful supplies
Floating row cover on Amazon (opens a new tab)Spinosad spray on Amazon (opens a new tab)Neem oil on Amazon (opens a new tab)
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Plants it affects
Not sure? Your county extension office can identify it from a photo or sample, often for free.