Attack of the Runner Bugs!!

[so lucky]

Went out to play in the garden this morning, and to gather some tomatoes and cukes. On the tomatoes, I saw this black debris that looked like little pieces of rough string. Not hornworm poo. Then I saw them: Runner Bugs!! I don't know if that is the name for them or not, but they are a grey and black striped bug, about 3/4 inch long. They don't fly, but they do run fast. I have been told they sting or bite, but don't know that for a fact. They appear suddenly and can defoliate a large summer blooming clematis in one day. Ask me how I know. Since I only saw a few, maybe a dozen total, I squashed every one I saw, (I had garden gloves on) and sprinkled Sevin dust on the ground around the tomatoes. I just tried to google the bug to see what the real name is, and it looks most like a striped blister beetle, but not exactly. They look more grey and black than yellow and black. Anyway, I had them a few years ago on ornamentals, and Sevin kills them fast.

 

[lesa]

Oh great- another bug to add to the pest list! Haven't heard of that one...

 

[so lucky]

I'm sure there is a more well-known name, but around here that's what we call 'em.

 

[Ridgerunner]

The lady at the gardening store called them Army Beetles. I googled that and came up blank. I think they are blister beetles or a real close relative. They hit my chard and tomatoes pretty hard this year but Sevin stopped them in their tracks. I think Hoodat said they use their pheromones to call others of their kind to a plant. Probably a sexual frenzy while they destroy the plant. They stripped the leaves from a section of my tomatoes so bad I hung up sheets to keep the sun from scalding the tomatoes that had set on.

 

[so lucky]

Well, pheremones would explain their sudden appearance in an area. I hadn't thought of that. I looked at the affected areas again this evening and didn't see any more damage or bugs, so hopefully I got 'em before the pheremone call brought in the army.

 

[hoodat]

The reason many people call them army bugs is that sometimes they will move through a garden in waves like an advancing army, eating just about everything in their path. The funny thing is that they travel in straight lines. Old timers used to get a corn broom and try to move them along out of the garden fast. Once they leave a garden they will keep going in the direction they started in. That's only true if they are in large numbers. If they are individuals it doesn't work. Hot dry weather brings them out in droves. Don't try to squash them with your bare hands or you may find out why they're called blister beetles.

 

[so lucky]

At least I had the foresight to wear a glove. I haven't seen anymore. It would be interesting to see them marching in, and be able to redirect them with a broom as you said, Hoodat. They sure try to scramble when you hit them with Sevin. The whole plant just looks like it is shivering!