Flea Beetle.

[Durgan]

Pak Choy is a favourite of flea beetles as are radish. These small beetles devastate my radishes and pak choy leaves and some times the beet leaves. They can be controlled by many insecticides, which I am reluctant to use, since they must be sprayed directly. Flea beetles is a general name applied to the small, jumping beetles of the leaf beetle family (Chrysomelidae). Sometimes on a hot sunny day the radishes are black with this little pest

 

[digitS']

You have hit on another of my least-favorite insects, Durgan.

I blame the flea beetle larva for root damage, also!

The adults can just overwhelm brassica plants. Some may even die from the tiny dang beetles! I discovered a few years ago that they can be real damaging to tomato plants, as well.

Once again, I found that spinosad was fairly effective. The pyrethrum also works quite well. I've read that the beetles hide on the soil surface under debris. My garden soil has lots of pebbles for them to hid under and I do my best to overspray the plants with the bug killer. Spinosad is something that they would need to eat for it to kill them so I don't make as much of an effort to be spraying the soil around the plants.

Bok choy and such have much less of a problem with flea beetles late in the season but I hate to just lose the plants early in the year.

Steve

 

[lesa]

Flea beetles love eggplant (and I don't). So, I always plant a few eggplants and the flea beetles pretty much stick to them.