Count down to Expo!

          The cucumber beetle is a small beetle native to Kentucky. The beetle is about ¼  of an inch and it is yellow and green with three black stripes along its back. The southern corn rootworm is very similar and fits this description except they have 12 black dots on its back instead of three black lines.

          The cucumber beetle feeds on many plants in the nightshade family such as; cucumbers, muskmelon and watermelon. Females are notorious for laying eggs in cracks in the soil and the bottom of plant stems which make it close to impossible to notice.  Females could produce up to 800 eggs at one time.  The eggs mainly have a base color of yellow or orange. After 10 days the larvae will hatch and feed for the next three to four weeks on plants. Then they pupate, which is the next step in their life cycle.  

         There are a couple ways to detect if this beetle is currently infesting your garden.  First look for abnormal holes on the leaves or yellowing and wilting throughout the plant. Also, look for if the fruit of the plant is yellow and stunted abnormally.  Natural predators to the beetle consist of ladybugs, Lacewing eggs and nematodes, as cucumber beetles are relatively large insects they are also mostly fed on by larger predators such as wolf spiders and bats. Farmers treat the beetle by putting pesticides in the soil. However, these pesticides have many detrimental effects on human health and the environment.