Re: What's eating my Buddleia?

Vivien -


	Were you every right!  I went out Sat. night about 10:30 with a
flashlight after reading your message and lo! There they were!
Little tan colored beetles as you described.  They are chomping on some
of my other plants as well - including the basil.  Well, its not so
awful that I'm worried but I will keep an eye out for them.  However, it
doesn;t seem like handpicking them would be a great solution since I'm
sure there are more wher ethey came from - but I suppose every little
bit helps!  
	After I came in Sat. night and announced to my husband the
discovery of these beetles - he remembered having dug something up for
me and seeing beetles underground. Hmmmm...
	Any rain down your way?

Sharon

 
> Go out at night and check again.  I'd almost bet that it's asiatic garden 
> beetles that are making holes in your buddleia leaves.  They look like 
> slightly smaller, copper-colored versions of japanese beetles and are capable 
> of totally skeletonizing plants overnight.  They seem to have a preference 
> for aromatic plants, though they seem to eat just about anything.  My 
> experience (extensive!) with earwigs is that they like to get inside thick 
> new growth, like leaves just forming or blossoms, which they spoil.  They 
> don't seem to be as damaging on more mature, open growth.
> 
> I don't have information on when or how the asiatic garden beetles arrived in 
> this country, but they appeared in my garden several years ago.  
> Interestingly, they appear to have displaced the japanese beetle, which I 
> rarely see anymore.  They both live in the ground as grubs (yes, the ones 
> that eat your lawn and which the crows and skunks dig for), so I theorize 
> that they compete for the same niche at that stage, even though the adults of 
> the one are nocturnal and the the adults of the other diurnal.  The adults of 
> the a.g.b. go back underground during the day and you might find some if you 
> dig around your plants a little.
> 
> As far as damage goes, there is little to choose between the two beetles.  I 
> certainly don't miss the j.b.'s, but it's disspiriting to come out in the 
> morning and see the damage.  I occasionally handpick at night, but they're 
> harder to capture than the slugs I also look for.  If I used chemicals, the 
> usual grub-ex type stuff would undoubtedly help reduce the population.  
> Probably milky spore or beneficial nematodes would help.  Actually, damage 
> (so far) this year has been lighter, I think because of the extreme dryness 
> of our spring.
> 
> Vivien
> Norwood, MA  (practically next door!)
> 
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