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driftlessroots

A Petiole Full of Beetles!

Driftless Roots
17 years ago

I've never seen this before. I spotted one of the leaves in a potful of Arisaema fargesii looking droopy and when I moved the petiole it split open and was mushy and full of little black beetles in the bottom third or so. Bleh! The leaf has since died and fallen off and I gave the thing a good spray of an imidacloprid insecticide. Anyone ever have this happen? Were the beetles taking advantage of a damaged plant or did they start the havoc? Are "black jack" beetles the next big pestilence?!?! I'm keeping an eye on the adjacent plants.

Comment (1)

  • jim_6b
    17 years ago

    I don't know a lot about Arisaema fargesii, but I have been growing Dracunculus vulgaris for a while now and they always have small black beetles and flies in the blooms. They don't seem to hurt the blooms at all. I think that both are attracted to the smell and are what pollinates them.
    Jim

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