Table of Contents
Biology of cucumber beetles Adults feed on blossoms of flowering plants, mate and lay eggs in the soil at the base of host plants (cucumber, squash, etc.). Eggs hatch in several weeks and larvae feed on plant roots and underground parts of stems.
What plants do cucumber beetles eat?
Image by carol2chat Cucumber beetles will eat the leaves, flowers, and fruit of bean, cucumber, melon, asparagus, corn, eggplant, and squash plants and their larva will chew on the roots of these plants.
What attracts cucumber beetles the most?
Cucumber beetles are attracted to host plants by a chemical called cucurbitacin, which gives cucurbits their bitterness and likely is used as a defense against less-specialized herbivores (Deheer and Tallamy, 1991).
How do you keep cucumber beetles away?
How to Prevent Cucumber Beetles Clear out leaf litter and garden debris from the previous year. Rotate your crops. Plant crops that attract beneficial insects. Interplant your cucurbits with plants that repel cucumber beetles. Try a trap crop. Try row covers.
What do cucumber beetles hate?
You can use your normal straw or hay mulch or use the foliage from plants that repel cucumber beetles like radishes, tansy and nasturtium. You can also plant radishes, tansy and nasturtium amongst your cucurbits to make them less inviting to cucumber beetles.
Do marigolds repel cucumber beetles?
Grow repellent plants. Flowers like nasturtium and marigolds, an herb such as catnip, and veggies like radishes and corn help keep cucumber beetles away.
Do ladybugs eat cucumber beetles?
Beneficial Insects You may be surprised to find out but ladybugs and lacewings will eat cucumber beetle eggs! So make sure you plant lots of flowers around your garden that attract these helpful insects to your garden.
Do cucumber beetles eat tomatoes?
They are referred to as ‘plant-wounding insects’ and also transmit bacterial wilt. Feeding on blossoms and leaves, they also spread it among squash, melons, and pumpkins which in turn spread it to nearby tomatoes. Cucumber beetles also vector viruses such as cucumber mosaic but do so much less efficiently than aphids.
What does cucumber beetle damage look like?
Identifying Cucumber Beetle Damage Look for holes and yellowing and wilting leaves. Feeding on flowers can reduce fruit production, and direct feeding on fruits causes unattractive scars and pock marks on the fruit, too.
What pesticide kills cucumber beetles?
Three dust formulations can be used for cucumber beetles: carbaryl, 5 percent; pyrethrin, 1 percent; and rotenone, 1 percent. All of these are toxic to bees, so apply in the evening or early in the morning, when the flowers are closed. Cover all plant surfaces with the dust.
How do you trap cucumber beetles?
For the live beetle traps, cut out two sides of a plastic container and hot glue mesh in its place to provide ventilation (Figure 3). Drill two holes near the top to attach a rope for hanging and use hot glue to seal any gaps. Each trap should contain ten striped cucumber beetles collected from a field.
Do radishes deter cucumber beetles?
Radishes are widely hailed as a companion plant to repel cucumber beetles and other squash family pests, but they work best when combined with a second companion plant such as buckwheat. Used together, the radishes repel cucumber beetles while the buckwheat attracts beneficials, which serve as further deterrents.
Does neem oil work on cucumber beetles?
Adult cucumber beetles lay their eggs in the soil around the base of plants, where the emerging larvae feed on the roots. Neem oil can be applied as a soil drench around the base of plants to kill eggs and larvae, but is not very effective against adults.
Does garlic repel cucumber beetles?
Many gardeners find success planting nasturtiums among cucumber vines to repel the cucumber beetles that feed on cucumber leaves and flowers, and transmit bacterial wilt. Garlic plants are also used to keep spider mites away from phlox and other vulnerable perennials.
Do nasturtiums repel cucumber beetles?
Growing nasturtiums as companion plants: When planted with cucumbers and tomatoes, nasturtiums may repel cucumber beetles, whiteflies, aphids, and squash bugs. Planting nasturtiums alongside eggplant or squash plants can also help repel cucumber beetles.
Do praying mantis eat cucumber beetles?
You see those praying mantis-egg cases on sale. A: People buy praying mantises to control common vegetable garden pests — cucumber beetles, aphids, spider mites, relatively small prey. Praying mantises are pretty big. They might eat a cucumber beetle but not a beetle or spider mite.
Where do cucumber beetles lay their eggs?
Biology of cucumber beetles Adults feed on blossoms of flowering plants, mate and lay eggs in the soil at the base of host plants (cucumber, squash, etc.). Eggs hatch in several weeks and larvae feed on plant roots and underground parts of stems.
How do you use wood ashes for cucumber beetles?
Mix a spray of 1 ounce wood ashes, 1 ounce hydrated lime and 1 gallon water. Spray upper and lower leaf surfaces. Hydrated lime is a powdered substance. Or use a spray of hot peppers, water and garlic.
Do cucumber beetles eat flowers?
Cucumber Beetle Damage Adults of both species eat both stems and leaves of cucumber plants in the Spring. Later in the Summer, adults will also eat cucumber flowers and small cucumbers themselves.
Do cucumber beetle traps work?
Overall, results indicate that the mass trapping system developed is effective at suppressing cucumber beetles from cucurbit plants. Some producers in a couple of Missouri locations are currently evaluating the performance of this mass trapping system.
Do birds eat cucumber beetles?
Best of all, many birds eat lots of bugs… including some of the worst garden pests! Insect loving birds eat a variety of garden pests including cabbage worms, grasshoppers, whiteflies, aphids, moths, stinkbugs, earwigs, cucumber beetles, and grubs, which are some of the most challenging garden foes out there.
Where are cucumber beetle found?
Cucumber beetles are found across the United States from Canada to Mexico and are either striped (Acalymma vittatum) or spotted (Diabrotica undecimpunctata howardi). Both species feed primarily on the leaves, flowers and fruits of cucurbits (cucumbers, squash, pumpkins and melons).
