Green Eviction of the Polka Dot Menace

Our ARCH nemesis, the cucumber beetle, had better look out! We are waging a heavy duty war on the little critter. Our dear, darling little baby lima beans are being eaten at an alarming rate, as are the baby swiss chard.

Farmer Jeff and I discovered, last year, and rather late in the game, at that, this wonderfully sticky product called, "Tanglefoot". It has to be smeared on something yellow in order to get the little bugs interested, then when they fly over to it...SMACK!!! They are STUCK for the rest of their lives. We found these VERY yellow/goldenrod clear plastic cups at the grocery store and they are perfect for the job!

If you put these sticky cup traps out early in the game (early in the growing season) you will catch all of the mama's and papa's that would be laying lots o'babies.

It is very satisfying to see the cups covered with bugs. I am not against killing them, I just don't want to use poison to do so. This way you can have healthy and hole free produce!

For more information on the spotted cucumber beetle: http://www.ext.vt.edu/departments/entomology/factsheets/cucbeet.html