Blister Beetles

[Mustardseedmama]

What would summer be without pests? Where would lie the challenge? ......Oh yeah, heat, drought,...

Our arch nemesis has arrived; the Blister Beetles are here again, and this time they are early, although I knew they were coming because they always come right after you see the first adult grasshoppers popping up around the place. So although we have gotten through this entire growing season thus far with no pesticide, we had to pull out the sprayer for this.

For those uninitiated in Blister Beetle-ology, here is a description. Imagine you have taken a lovely stroll around your garden at 6 am, coffee in hand, admiring the verdant plants, checking for pests, and sniffing a flower here and there appreciatively. You leave to run errands or whatnot.

You come home, cook supper, etc...and around 6 pm when it is once again cooling down outside, you walk back out to the garden, stare in horror and gasp audibly. Your garden is now nothing but skeletal remains. In. One. Day.

There are no leaves on the plants, and much of the developing produce has large spots eaten out of it. The tomatoes are the saddest thing; apparently tomatoes are their favorite food! This actually happened to me our second year out here---what a shocker.

You learn very quickly to watch for these critters, as they come almost every year, and if you don't keep a very close eye on things you will lose everything. You also learn not to touch them, for they raise nasty blisters on your skin, and what areas not to buy hay from, as two or three Blister Beetles, injested by a horse or cow, can sicken or even kill them.

So that's my report on Blister Beetles....I think I'll go sit down at my desk again....

[The Riff-Raff Element]

They sound dreadful. Aside from Colorado beetle, I don't think we've got anything that bad.