Greetings fellow Foxies
Last week I discovered a flea beetle love nest on a Blueberry Lily with at least a 6 pairs mating on the flowers and taking an occasional nip of flower to maintain their stamina.
The flea beetle is a small, jumping beetle of the leaf beetle family (Chrysomelidae), that makes up the tribe Alticini.
I first noticed some last year as ~ 4mm shiny beetles that jumped like fleas when I tried to photograph them. Have a look at the hind leg muscles in the images below -seriously steroidal.
A bit of Googling revealed that they can be pests in the northern hemisphere, and I recognised a picture of a larva as a horrible little grub that shreds marshmallow weed leaves in my back yard each winter. They are welcome to marshmallow but move on to crucifers like turnips and broccoli. I have learnt not to grow turnips or allow marshmallow to germinate in the garden patch before planting broccoli.
Last week I discovered a flea beetle love nest on a Blueberry Lily with at least a 6 pairs mating on the flowers and taking an occasional nip of flower to maintain their stamina.
The flea beetle is a small, jumping beetle of the leaf beetle family (Chrysomelidae), that makes up the tribe Alticini.
I first noticed some last year as ~ 4mm shiny beetles that jumped like fleas when I tried to photograph them. Have a look at the hind leg muscles in the images below -seriously steroidal.
A bit of Googling revealed that they can be pests in the northern hemisphere, and I recognised a picture of a larva as a horrible little grub that shreds marshmallow weed leaves in my back yard each winter. They are welcome to marshmallow but move on to crucifers like turnips and broccoli. I have learnt not to grow turnips or allow marshmallow to germinate in the garden patch before planting broccoli.
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Brachonid wasps and Tachinid flies are parasitoid flea beetle predators. Adults lay eggs on flea beetle larvae that hatch to produce a grub-like larva that burrows, consumes the insides and pupates there to start the cycle again. I am surprised that I have seen so few beetles and will have to monitor marshmallows next winter.
 Flea beetle larva |  Brachonid wasp |  Tachinid fly |
