weevils/larvae and shiny beetles on brassicas

[ashleighParticipant]

a small number of my kale and broccoli has been damaged by little black weevil-looking things. they look a bit like ladybird larvae and seem to eat layers of the leaf, so as to leave parts of the leaf looking purple/brown, dry and transparent. sometimes on the same plants are tiny, shiny blue-black beetles, so i’m assuming these are the same animal. what are they?

i think they are going for already weakened plants, but possibly it is they who are weakening the plant

i guess we will be investing in a lot of mesh next year

[charlesModerator]

 The fine summer has encouraged breeding of so many insects and I do not know these ones, perhaps someone else does?
You might not see them next year if it rains normally.

[compostpopeParticipant]

Hi Ashleigh

I think I have the same unwelcome guests dining on my brassicas. On the basis of their habit of jumping off disturbed leaves I searched “flea beetles” on the RHS website and in my case I think thats what they are.

You could try Google images for pictures of flea beetles but be warned that lots of different species on lots of different crops appear to have picked up this name.

I covered the neighbouring bed of autumn salads with enviromesh after planting and then also a layer of fleece as my mesh apparently may only deter the little darlings. So far so good!

CP

[ashleighParticipant]

ugh, thanks for that, there seem to be several varieties of flea beetle and this is one of them. they are sadly also keen on our mustards and even my new pak choi, they have only left one of those alone!

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