Written by: Aiva Tavascia
When I’m in my garden, I always check to make sure there aren’t any pests damaging my plants. There are some beneficial insects that can inhabit your garden but unfortunately, there are some not so good insects such as the Striped Cucumber Beetle.
The striped cucumber beetle, Acalymma vittatum F. Photograph by John Capinera, Entomology and Nematology Department, University of Florida.
What is the Striped Cucumber Beetle? How can you identify it?
Cucumber Beetles are a part of the Chrysomelidae family or more commonly known as leaf beetles. Striped Cucumber Beetles are one of the most commonly found leaf beetles found in Ontario gardens/crops. You can identify the Striped Cucumber Beetle by their bright yellow prothorax, black abdomen, yellow elytra with 3 black lines along their entire body and they are about 1/5 inches long and 1/10 inches wide.
What damage does the Striped Cucumber Beetle do to crops and/ or gardens?Striped Cucumber Beetles feed on leaves, fruit and flowers. They feed on both young and mature plants but prefer young plants. The Striped Cucumber Beetle feeding on leaves and flowers will result in severe defoliation. The feeding of fruits will result in scarring damage. While the Striped Cucumber Beetle will feed on both leaves, fruits, and flowers, it has a strong preference for plants in the Cucurbitaceae family. Plants in the Cucurbitaceae family include: Squash, Cucumber, Pumpkin, Gourd, Watermelon and Cantaloupe. The feeding of these plants will result in gridling and scarring. Striped Cucumber Beetle larvae can stunt and kill seedlings and premature crops. Striped Cucumber Beetles can also transmit bacterial wilt. Bacterial wilt is when the Beetle feeds on a crop and then leaves contaminated feces in the wounds of the crop. You will usually see the symptoms of bacterial wilt in your plants 1 week after the initial infection. Once the crop(s) are infected they will not recover and will eventually die.
How to get rid of/prevent Striped Cucumber Beetles
You can prevent and stop getting your crops fed on and destroyed by Striped Cucumber Beetles by delaying the planting of cucurbits by a few weeks, or using fabric, hay, straw or plastic as mulch can prevent adult Striped Cucumber Beetles from laying eggs in your garden.
You can also use trap crops such as the baby blue hubbard squash to lure the Striped Cucumber Beetle to feed and lay eggs in those crops instead of ones that are important and essential. You can plant the squash on the perimeter of your garden and can do multiple rows of them if necessary.
Another thing you can do to prevent these pests is sticky traps. Sticky traps can be used 2 ways: you can apply sticky yellow tape to trap the beetles on the crop and make sure they do not damage the plant or further damage it; or use a sticky trap is by making one (which is really simple to do!). All you need is a yellow plastic cup, glue/tape, and (for an added effect) a cotton ball soaked in the oil of clove, cassia, cinnamon, and allspice. These things mixed together will mimic a floral attractant.
Content Sources:
https://www.highmowingseeds.com/blog/organic-control-measures-for-striped-cucumber-beetles/
http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/VEG/BEAN/striped_cucumber_beetle.html
Image Sources:
1) http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/VEG/BEAN/striped_cucumber_beetle.html
2) https://eorganic.info/index.php?q=node/10213
3) https://thistledownsfarm.com/how-to-get-rid-of-cucumber-beetles/