David Owens, Extension Entomologist, owensd@udel.edu
Congratulations to Carol Kinsley and the many other folks who correctly identified last week’s challenge as Asiatic Garden Beetle. I had no idea this one would strike a chord with folks. This beetle begins emerging from the soil in late June or early July and feeds voraciously on hundreds of plant species at night. Besides a young cherry tree at my house, they defoliated several rows of a dove hunting plot of sunflower in Georgetown and more seriously, they defoliated double crop soybean near Bridgeville. I even got reports of them defoliating cotton in North Carolina this year! Goes to show how important it is to scout seedlings to make sure they get off to a good start!
