Can anyone ID the culprit?

[Mojave]

Anyone have any idea what is eating my bean leaves, and to a lesser extent my peppers leaves? The only bad guys I've seen in the garden are aphids, earwigs (they did a lot of damage to my pepper plants last year before I got them under control) and a few blister beetles.

I'm fortunate that I've got a lot of ladybugs and their larvae hanging out too, I'm hoping maybe they can take care of this for me.

Thanks everybody!

Munched on Scarlet Runner bean leaf:

[KarenO]

Looks like the kind of damage a beetle and their larvae would do with the lacy pattern. Are you sure those are ladybugs you see? bean beetles are orange and spotted...and eat bean leaves. google bean beetle or Mexican bean beetle to see what I mean.

[linzelu100]

I second beetle. One of my first years gardening I thought I had tons of beautiful "yellow" ladybugs. They were cucumber beetles and the wiped out my cukes before I figured out otherwise. I use DE, diatomaceous earth, on beetles when I see their cuts in large amounts. I only use it sparingly. It kills good bugs too. It's not a chemical, so you don't have to worry about that, but it gets under the insects shells and cuts. You need to wear a mask when you apply it, so you don't breath it in. And only use it if you can't handpick the bad bugs- extreme cases.

Lindsey

[RebelRidin]

Another voice for Beetles...

[Mojave]

What I've seen are definitely ladybugs, but that's not to say there aren't bean beetles out there. I'll go out there tonight and see if I can catch them, whatever they are, in the act. I'll try the DE if I have to resort to it. Haven't had to use any chemicals at all yet this season *crosses fingers*.

Thank you for the help!!

[clkeiper]

Go out with a flash light to see what is on them at night time. It does look like a beetle damage, but it could be slugs, too. The pill bugs this year have been terrible for me. In the greenhouse that I planted tomatoes, peppers ands eggplant in, the nasty little critters chewed them off the very first night. I was able to salvage two of the pink cupcake tomatoes and rerooted them, the rest I had to regrow. The sweetheat pepper is still getting chewed on. GRRR!!! I planted one dwarf grow out in there and they ate that off along with an entire row of pink tomatoes and started on the red tomatoes after that. Then I got out the sevin. I normally don't use it, but I was getting angry at the waste of 6 weeks worth of growing to be gone over night.

[Heritage]

Since you have already seen earwigs, that would be my guess. You should be able to spot them at night with a flashlight.

Steve

[Mojave]

Originally Posted by Heritage

Since you have already seen earwigs, that would be my guess. You should be able to spot them at night with a flashlight.

Steve

Last year earwigs were, for a time, a major headache. I literally killed thousands of them with oil traps before I got them under control. They tended to eat the leaves from the edges inward and didn't leave this lacy type of evidence behind. I'll find out tonight for sure. I've already set a few earwig traps.

I didn't know pill bugs ate our plants, I've got them running around too!

[clkeiper]

Originally Posted by Mojave

I didn't know pill bugs ate our plants, I've got them running around too!

I didn't either until this year. I thought they only ate organic debris in the soil. Maybe it is how cold and long the spring was here and they are eating anything. I even have two potted eggplants in the other greenhouse that I noticed the leaves are being chew on. I picked up the pot and the drainage holes are hollowed out and there were pill bugs in them. GRRR!!! They were chewing on the zucchini's cotyledons in the other high tunnel....We just happened to notice the damage while we were weeding the "strawberry experiment" a couple days after we planted them. Out came the sevin....again.

[Heritage]

Originally Posted by Mojave

Last year earwigs were, for a time, a major headache. I literally killed thousands of them with oil traps before I got them under control. They tended to eat the leaves from the edges inward and didn't leave this lacy type of evidence behind. I'll find out tonight for sure. I've already set a few earwig traps.

On some varieties of plants the earwig's skeletonized lacework can be very artistic!

Earwigs, in small numbers, aren't all bad - they are predators and help to keep aphids and slugs under control.

Fortunately, unlike most pests, earwigs don't reproduce rapidly, so are not that difficult (here) to control.

Good luck with your night hunts!
Steve

[Mojave]

I learn something new every day! Until last year I thought earwigs were benign. Now I find my childhood friend, the little pill bug, has a dark side too.