Two Common Culprits are slugs and rabbits.

What does the munching look like? Is it whole leaves / plants being chopped down? Or is it pieces while leaving behind a spidery like web of supports?

After a rain, or right at dusk, go check and see if you have slugs roaming around.

Thanks - the leaves do not look like spiderwebs, something is snacking on the entire leaf. Some leaves are missing entirely, others have bites taken from them.

Something is eating my bean leaves too. Am using IRT film this year, so it is very moist under there, but also very hot. I wonder if slugs can survive under a hot IRT film? Maybe they crawl all the way to the side where it is cooler before sunup.

Sluggo is not for sale around here, so I bought Garden Safe Slug and Snail Bait, the only iron phosphate available, but it was 15 dollars at Menards for 3 pounds. Kind of expensive.

And I've got these eating my beans -- maybe they're the ones that have chewed some leaf-holes, too. Anybody know what they are? Larval stage of something?

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Note its curved shape and prickles. When turned over, it has no prickles on the underside.

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This site lists common bean pests and the kind of damage they do. Occasionally, but not often, you can identify the pest by the damage pattern.

Someone on another forum told me what the insect is, a Mexican Bean Beetle larva.

Sigh.

Haven't seen a lot of them so I'll wait to see if they become a problem pest.

Insecticidal soap takes care of any soft bodied or small insect like aphids with out poisoning the veggies. It is pure soap that smothers the insect

I agree, thats the larva of the Mexican Bean Beetle and they definately will become a problem pest. The adults are yellow with black stripes. Sevin dust or liquid or malithion will definately wipe them out. Insecticidal soap probably will also but I don't know.
What ever you use will need to be reapplied after each rain or watering and about every two weeks anyway.

MomesqNY,

I am having the same problem. I just tore down all my pole beans today and have to replant. This has been going on for a month now. I had perfectly healthy plants and started noticing that entire poles were missing leaves (whole leaves chomped off). Sometimes just the top leaves and then the bottom leaves would be gone the next day or vice versa. The beans were left completely untouched and intact.

I am certain it is an animal and think it may be a rat! I've seen a rat running along the fence on that side of the yard several times. I purchased a rat trap 2 weeks ago, but have yet to set it up. I think that is the only critter that is capable of climbing the poles without dragging the whole plant down. We also have squirrels, but I haven't seen them in that area during the daytime. It is definitely a nighttime creature! I checked for droppings but didn't see anything, but I am not ruling it out.

Does this sound like it may be what's eating your leaves as well? I'd hate to admit that there are rats on my property, but I am at a loss as to what it could be. We also have skunks, raccoons, coyotes and opossums but they would be much too big to climb the bamboo tepees I set up!

Thanks tigrrrl

Maybe it's the squirrels. Our dogs would bark if it were raccoons, hopefully. I re-planted and got a few pole bean plants going, but whatever got the first ones drops by once in a while