Mint Flea Beetles!

Help!

I have an infestantion of mint flea beetles! They are destroying all of my mint, along with lots of aphids. The mint beetles were inside the house yesterday and all around the door frame too, I gave them blast of fly spray which seemed to kill them off quite quickly, however I do not fancy spraying that on my mint! Does anyone know how to get rid of them?

 

I`ve never, ever heard of mint flea beetle. I always thought flea beetle only ever affected Brassicas.

 

When I first searched for Flea Beetles, all the sites said to plant mint to deter, but as they seem to be enjoying eating mine I did a search and discovered there are such things as Mint Beetles! There a thousands of them, they are all around the house and all in the house!! Driving me insane. I think the lavae are also killing my Cucumber in the garden room, I discovered a lavae in the roots of a very poorly looking Cuc plant yesterday, needless to say I'm a tad peeved!

 

Like David, I'm unfamiliar with mint flea beetles and the fact thousands of them are all over your house suggests to me that you may be dealing with something else. After all, if they live on mint, what are they doing indoors?! The only infestation like that I can think of comes from fruit flies of the genus Drosophila - in the house, they're annoying but harmless.

What does the larva you found in your cuc look like? In my part of the world, if you find something in the soil or compost, it's more likely to be vine weevil than anything else.

In short, I think you may have several problem insects at work in your garden/house. And you need to use insecticide if you want to stop them - something like Provado's Ultimate Bug Killer.

 

I originally came to the conclusion that they were mint beetles due to the fact they were eating my mint, and that all the othet flea beetle advice includes the fact that mint repells them... not these ones! They are definately flea beetles, the bronze coloured little blighters. They are now eating my lettuce, cucumber and tomatoes. They are all over the walls, ceiling and plants in my garden room, but are also under the wooden underside of the roof of the house (I live in a coach house which has a balcony with almost floor level slate roof). They are coming up the walls from the floor below I think, but literally aer everywhere! I live in an old vineyard, which is surrounded by woodland and fields, some with crops so I'm a bit stuffed!

 

Hmmm. Are you in the UK? It might be worth contacting DEFRA to see if they have any specific advice.

 

Two questions, can you post some pics? And what do these insects do when you approach them?

 

I will try ro upload some pics, but they are definately flea beetles... they jump off when you get to close. I dont know if this is the exact species but it is exactly what they look like! http://mint.ippc.orst.edu/mfbcycle.htm They dont seem to be fussy either, they are scoffing everyting!

 

How do I upload pics? It wont seem to let me.

 

Oh Joy, I just found 2 Vine Weevil too... So how do I get rid of Flea Bettle & Vine Weevil??

 

Mint flea beetles are obviously bad news in Oregon but I've never seen them over here. According to one of my books, the UK has 130 different species of flea beetle and there's one called Phyllotreta nigripes which is a metallic greenish colour. Could this be the one? It's less common than the small striped flea beetles which usually peppers the brassica family with holes, like David has mentioned.

Whatever it is, you need Provado to deal with the vine weevil and Provado's Ultimate Bug Killer to have a go at the beetles - if you can get near enough to them.

 

It's not the kind of beetle you mentioned, as it is not at all green. It is the exact colour of the mint beetle, although I'm guessing it is not a 'mint beetle'. It is most interested in my lettuces now! I have had to hose off the mints and bring the them inside to save them!

I bought some Derris Liquid last night and went on a spraying frenzy, plants, ceilings, outside the house, the lot! The little sods couldn't seem to care less however! As for the Vine Weevil, I bought some Provado also and gave the affected area a good watering, fingers crossed. No idea what is eating my Strawbs though, did a moonlight torch hunt and found nothing.