What is this bug (looks like ladybug on steriods)

baymule

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Something is eating holes in the sweet potato leaves. I have seen this beetle several times, but don't know if it is a good bug or a bad bug. It is 2 or 3 times the size of a ladybug, is orange and has smaller black spots than a ladybug has.

7949_sweet_potato_bug_2.jpg
 

baymule

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After looking at that link, I guess the chickens wouldn't be particularly intrested in a nasty tasting snack!
 

seedcorn

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Asian beetles. Kill them smell them stink.
 

897tgigvib

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I am liking the idea of having a few of these, along with a few Mantises to keep their numbers right.
 

hoodat

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I can't speak from experience but I've been told they can bite pretty hard if you mess with them.
 

journey11

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The asian lady bugs we have here haven't been too much larger than a regular ladybug--just orange instead of red. (But then again, I guess everything really IS bigger in Texas. :gig ) They're only a bad bug when about 20,000 of them want to come inside your house and stay the winter. And they do bite! And pee on you and it stinks! My husband gets sick at his stomach, turns pale and almost passes out if he sees more than one or two. Ha. But they think aphids are yummy...so check your plants over good for the aphids. Around here, they are so busy eating aphids up in the numerous trees, they don't even bother to come into the garden, so we consider them a pest.
 

Kassaundra

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We have them they mostly stay in the trees, but they have never shown up in huge numbers, but my Gma lived just 80 miles to the southeast of me and they would reach almost plague status every fall there.
 

baymule

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Maybe it is not an Asian Ladybug. I caught one today, being careful to avoid the sharp and deadly teeth :lol: and placed it on the driveway. I gently and carefully stomped the crap out of it. It went crunch and did not stink. I even picked up a crunched remain and smelled it. No smell at all.

In the meantime something is eating holes in the sweet potato leaves. Is it the mystery weight lifting Ladybug that is slurping down anabolic steriods? Or is the mystery pumpkin chip bug eating BAD bugs?
 

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