Tomato bugs

[Stubbornhillfarm]

Last night, I was looking at my tomatos after watering. Some of the plants had these little hard to see bugs on them. They were brown and black, flat, hard shelled. Any idea what they were or how to keep them off? I think I got them all and squished the ones I found.

Thanks in advance!

 

[lesa]

Could be flea beetles. Are they making little holes?

 

[Stubbornhillfarm]

Could be flea beetles. Are they making little holes?

Yes, they sure are and I would probably consider it a beetle. I will have to research them. I have never seen them (or noticed) them before. Is there a way to keep them at bay or just hunt and squish like I did? Thank you lesa.

 

[lesa]

Other than making unsightly holes- they shouldn't damage your tomatoes. Are you growing potatoes? I actually planted an eggplant, as a sacrificial cow. They really attract the flea beetles...
Squish them if you see them, but they won't really hurt much.
I guess they will ruin radish greens....
Good luck!

 

[Stubbornhillfarm]

hmmm...I am growing potatoes. Different level and row of the garden, but I am assuming from your question, I should be looking there as well. I have radishes also. It's good to know that they will eat the leaves but not the actual fruit! I will be on the lookout tonight when I get home from work though. Thanks again!

 

[hoodat]

As Lesa said the damage is not all that harmful EXCEPT on tiny seedlings which they can destroy entirely before they get a chance to get some size. They seem to be worst in the Spring and taper off as the weather gets hotter.
It's easy to tell flea beetles. They hop like fleas when disturbed, which makes them hard to catch.

 

[Stubbornhillfarm]

hoodat and lesa, I had a minute to research some images of the flea beetle on line. It doesn't look a thing like what I had. Maybe mine were immature? Hopefully, I have none there this weekend, but if I find one, I will take a picture. I have tried finding what I have on the Internet and can't find any matches. We'll see!

 

[digitS']

I would have a good deal of problems taking a picture of a flea beetle. Not only do they scatter when I get anywhere close to them but they are tiny, tiny, tiny!

This is the 1st year I have ever sprayed the tomatoes for flea beetles. It was a bad year last year and the dang bugs hit the tomatoes fairly hard. They had a difficult enuf time with weather and I kicked myself for allowing those bugs to cause them any more grief.

This year, the beetles jumped on the tomato plants immediately. Once again, they are having a difficult start and it looked like the flea beetles were going to make it really difficult to get to going! So, I sprayed.

With a little warm weather, maybe the plants can make some growth over the next few days. There may have been other years when I should have beaten down the beetles but I've just allowed the tomatoes and some other things to tough it out. The brassicas are a real sad story, however. I'm not sure if I'd even be able to have broccoli without spraying most years.

Stubbornhillfarm, if you don't see much damage - there probably isn't much reason to spray your tomatoes, even if they are flea beetles. And, just as Hoodat says, they are very little trouble late in the season. Some folks around here can only grow things like radishes in the fall because of that. But that means, if your tomato plants can get past Independence Day without being shot full of holes, they may be able to enjoy the rest of the growing season, unmolested.

Steve