Pests & diseases › Mexican Bean Beetle
Mexican Bean Beetle
Yellow-orange beetle that looks like a ladybug but with 16 black spots. Larvae are yellow spiny grubs. Devastates bean foliage.
Symptoms
- Lacy skeletonized bean leaves
- Yellow spiny larvae on leaf undersides
- Cluster of bright yellow oval eggs on leaf undersides
- Pods scarred where larvae feed
Lifecycle
Adults overwinter in debris. Two or three generations per season.
What to do
- Hand pick adults, larvae, eggs
- Insecticidal soap on young larvae
- Spinosad
- Beneficial parasitic wasp Pediobius foveolatus (released commercially)
If it's bad
- Pyrethrin
Stop it coming back
- Clear debris in autumn
- Floating row cover early in season
- Resistant varieties (limited): Wade, Logan
Crops it goes for
Plan the plot, track every sowing, cook the harvest
Sowing reminders and harvest forecasts for your own frost dates, the Seed Tin, Scan Centre for any label or packet, and the Potty Mouth Garden Club. Free to start.