These beetles are showing up in the garden and are a big problem. They will eat all the leaves on your plants, completely stripping them. Besides potatoes, they will eat tomato, eggplant and pepper. They are not just a pest, they can kill the plants.
We do not allow insecticides at Nimmo Garden, but they are quite resistant anyway which makes them one of the most difficult pests to get rid of.
Because of this, we all have to be PROACTIVE.
When you come to the garden, monitoring your plants for any pests should be part of your routine.
The larva stage looks like this. If you can get them under control at this point, you can stop the reproduction cycle.
If you see the stripped beetles, they have probably already laid eggs and will spread fast.
Pick them off the plant and SQUISH them, or put in a container of soapy water to kill.
Look on the underside of leaves for their bright orange eggs. (They can hatch in 4-5 days, so this is very important to stop this step). Remove these leaves, put in a container of soapy water to kill.
Dusting your plants with Diatomaceous Earth.
Spraying with Neem Oil.
Mulching with newspaper/straw is also supposed to be a good proactive approach. When the larvae come out of the ground, the straw makes it difficult for them to reach the plant.