From ruggierop@earthlink.net Thu Jun 24 00:19:55 1999 Date: Wed, 23 Jun 1999 22:09:27 -0400 From: Patricia Ruggiero To: Sustainable Agriculture Subject: FW: Re: flea beetles [ The following text is in the "iso-8859-1" character set. ] [ Your display is set for the "US-ASCII" character set. ] [ Some characters may be displayed incorrectly. ] I apologize if this is a second posting. I made some mistakes in the first transmission and the message came back. Pat -----Original Message----- From: Patricia Ruggiero [mailto:ruggierop@earthlink.net] Sent: Wednesday, June 23, 1999 9:06 PM To: Sustainable Agriculture Cc: Organic Gardening Subject: Re: flea beetles The July/August 1999 issue of *Nature Conservancy* magazine has an article entitled *Double Agents: The Peril and Potential of Biological Control.* Flea beetles used against leafy spurge are discussed, and it is stated that *The beetles have demonstrated, in the language of the trade, selectivity -- the quality that often separates biocontrol's beauties from its beasties. It is a quality that may cost its seekers two to three years of overseas odysseys and extensive feeding experiments to find the bug that eats only what it is hired to eat. It is a prerequisite for release that in the past has not always been meticulously applied." I am reading the hard copy magazine. Their website is www.tnc.org The article doesn't say what the beetles do or where they go if their preferred food is not available. Pat -----Original Message----- From: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu [mailto:owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu]On Behalf Of Kimberly Stoner Sent: Wednesday, June 23, 1999 4:28 PM To: sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu; Mark Subject: Re: Re:flea beetles Mark: There are hundreds of different species of flea beetles and most of them are very specialized in their selection of plants on which to feed. For example, in your organic garden, you probably have the crucifer flea beetle, Phyllotreta cruciferae, which specializes on plants in the cabbage family. If you grow eggplant, you probably have the eggplant flea beetle, Epitrix fuscula, a specialist on eggplant and a few other species of solanaceous plants. You may also have the potato flea beetle, Epitrix cucumeris, also a specialist on Solanaceae. Thus, you shouldn't assume that the flea beetles on leafy spurge would be likely to feed on anything in your garden. You probably are not growing close relatives of this spurge in your garden. There is, however, a lively debate about the biological control of weeds, and whether the natural enemies of weeds have been adequately tested for their effects on all the closely related native plant species, including in some cases, endangered species of plants. I am surprised that they could do the distribution in the way described, because there is usually considerable paperwork involved in moving insects across state lines. Perhaps this species has reached the point where it has cleared the bureaucratic hurdles. -----Original Message----- From: Mark To: sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Date: Wednesday, June 23, 1999 3:57 PM Subject: Re:flea beetles >Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't these the same beetles that chomp up my >organic garden?? > >Mark >---------------------------------------------------- >Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture (CISA) >An independent non-profit organization > >c/o Hampshire College >893 West Street >Amherst MA 01002-5001 >T: 413-559-5338 >F: 413-559-5404 > >To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command >"unsubscribe sanet-mg". If you receive the digest format, use the command >"unsubscribe sanet-mg-digest". >To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command >"subscribe sanet-mg-digest". > >All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: >http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail > To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". If you receive the digest format, use the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg-digest". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". If you receive the digest format, use the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg-digest". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail