Yellowmargined leaf beatles

[saltmarsh]

I planted my fall garden on Oct. 12th and 13th, which included bok choy, purple top rutabagas, Florida broadleaf mustard, and purple top turnips.

I like to plant a little too thick so when they get 4 - 6 inches tall I can go through and thin them to 3 inches apart and eat the young greens I thin out.

Today I started thinning the greens and was surprised to find something had started nibbling on my mustard before me.

As I thinned the Mustard, I found a beetle I wasn't familiar with. After a little searching on the web I believe they are Yellowmargined leaf beetles.

This wouldn't be much of a problem if I used insecticides, but I haven't used any so far this year and don't want to start now.

Before I planted I inoculated the beds with my usual spray which has lactobacillus, horsetail tea, garlic, red pepper, sage, and orange Palmolive dish soap. Then sprayed again after planting. When the seeds had come up I started spraying each week, but stopped about 3 weeks ago because there wasn't any signs of insects. The spray had killed or moved the leaf hoppers, crickets, ants, grasshoppers, and cutworms which had been in the beds.

So now I go back to the spray routine. I know it will kill the larval stage of the beetle and might make the adults think they are eating sage or garlic or red pepper and move elsewhere. I'll update in a week or so with the results.

It would appear Florida broadleaf mustard makes an excellent trap crop for this beetle if anyone else has a problem with them. Claud

http://insects.tamu.edu/fieldguide/bimg193.html