The Colorado potato beetle is a common potato pest that will strip the leaves right off your potato plants. Both the adults and larvae feed on potato foliage. The adult beetles are about 3/8 of an inch long and 1/4 inch wide. They have alternate black and yellow stripes that run lengthwise on their backs. The larvae of the Colorado potato beetle are reddish in color and about ½ inch long when fully grown. When they feed, their backs are arched into almost a semicircle. The larvae have a swollen head and two rows of black spots on each side.

The larvae often feed in groups on the plants near where they are deposited as eggs. The eggs are orange-yellow in color and usually laid in groups of a dozen or more on the underside of the leaves. Each female lays about 300 eggs over a five week period. The adult beetles tend to wander from plant to plant feeding and laying eggs. If not controlled the adults and larvae can completely destroy a potato plot in a few days.

If you have only a small plot of potatoes, the insects can be picked off the plants. I can remember picking potato bugs in my younger years. Every day we would get sent out into the potato patch with a fruit jar to pick the insects off the plants. If picking potato bugs doesn't excite you, chemical control may be necessary. Dust or spray able formulations of Sevin or Methoxychlor will give effective control. Don't get discouraged if one spray doesn't completely control the insect, you'll have to reapply the control.

This page was last updated April 2003

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