What is this bug on my taters?

Megan 6/15/2010, 6:49 pm

This bug was on my taters when I came home today. I only saw one, and it didn't seem to be munching on anything, but I've never seen anything like it before. Sorry the picture isn't very good. It is a sort of grayish brown, polygonal body/head, and had little white spots on its knees. I did Google images of potato bugs but it didn't seem to match?

Thanks!

What is this bug on my taters? Photo-789928

What is this bug on my taters? Photo-789928

**camprn** 6/15/2010, 8:22 pm

I cant really see the bug so I'm no help there but your taters look AWESOME!

Megan 6/15/2010, 8:30 pm

camprn wrote:I cant really see the bug so I'm no help there but your taters look AWESOME!

Thanks, they are growing like crazy! Very Happy

I am going to try to put one more riser on... and I will keep an eye out for that little bug's brethren to see if I can get a better picture. Ooh, and I just looked at that pic again and saw a sneaky little flower hiding in there... off to snip it.

pattipan 6/15/2010, 8:35 pm

Is it a beetle of some kind? Can you crop the original photo full size to show just the leaf w/ bug?

I found a strange looking bug on my eggplant a few days ago. And it was definitely eating a big hole. I spritzed it with Neem oil and saved him to take a photo. I told my hubby it looked like a turtle bug! and guess what? It was a tortoise beetle!

What is this bug on my taters? Tortoi10

Patti

Megan 6/15/2010, 9:03 pm

pattipan wrote:Is it a beetle of some kind? Can you crop the original photo full size to show just the leaf w/ bug?

Sadly Picasa does not seem to want to let me do that. It might be a beetle, I am not really good at ID'ing bugs I am afraid. Sad

Here is a wider shot of my taters. Clearly whatever it is, isn't eating much, I just get a little freaked out when I see strange bugs there, as my squash are right next door. (I just about flipped tonight when I saw a reddish yellow bug flying around, until its hiney lit up. Yay lightning bugs!)

What is this bug on my taters? Photo-775510

What is this bug on my taters? Photo-775510

Ellie0505 6/15/2010, 9:09 pm

Try uploading to tinypic.com. You can upload a larger version and then crop to show only the bug.

Megan 6/15/2010, 9:23 pm

Tried, but it doesn't want to zoom at all. Sad

Resolution isn't good enough. Thanks very much for the hint, though!

pattipan 6/15/2010, 9:59 pm

I Photoshopped your photo a little and although it's still fuzzy, I think it looks like a stink bug, but I'm just guessing!

What is this bug on my taters? Taterb10

Maybe this one? It's common to our area. The nymphs look very different than the adult.

Brown Marmorated Stink Bug

Patti

Megan 6/15/2010, 10:17 pm

Wow, Patti, you have quite an eye, thank you! The body shape looks right when I followed your link, and that fourth instar picture has the knee lights. It probably is a stink bug. I will have to keep my eyes peeled for them.

pattipan 6/15/2010, 10:34 pm

I found a few of those stink bugs in on my tomatoes last year, so that's what made me think of them. They won't eat bites out of your tomatoes and strawberries, but they feed on them with piercing-sucking mouthparts which cause whitish-yellow corky spots underneath the skin of the fruit. Sounds like something out of a horror movie, doesn't it!?!!

You know your a SFG'er if...you get Rambo-like at the sign of a bug on your veggies!

Patti

Megan 6/15/2010, 10:46 pm

Yes, I am afraid that one particular bug will NOT be back. Twisted Evil

sceleste54 6/15/2010, 11:19 pm

I had a BIG problem with the stink bugs last year on my tomatoes. This year I'm keeping an eye out for them and catching them in a jar of alcohol. There was apparently a new variety in our area called the Leaf Footed Bug, and the immature stages were especially destructive.

Celeste

ander217 6/16/2010, 8:10 am

I've noticed over the years that strawberries which have stink bug bites are always very sweet tasting. So, do stinkbugs zero in on the sweetest berries, or do their attacks trigger sugar production in the fruit?

Just one more of those pressing questions which keep me awake at night. What is this bug on my taters? Icon_scratch

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