Gold beetle? A good guy or a bad guy?
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Gold beetle? A good guy or a bad guy?

by Cheryl
(Nyack, NY)

Something is eating at my hostas! Could it be this insect? It's mostly black with somewhat gold metallic-like markings. The hosta that this was found on did not have holes in the leaves but a few of my other hostas do have holes in them. I found another all black bug on them too. It's looked almost like a small lightening bug but was entirely black. Could THAT be the bad bug?

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Gold beetle? A good guy or a bad guy?

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Thank You, Moni!
by: Cheryl

Thank you so much for your assistance, Moni! What a wonderful and highly informative site!
White grub control
by: Moni

Cheryl,
For control first see what Doug has to say at his website: http://www.beginner-gardening.com/whitegrubs.html
Now is the time to work on control, as the adults are out flying around getting ready to lay the eggs for next years grub population. It is too late to control the grubs that did the damage...they are emerging as adults right now!
There are several organic controls for grubs...some work better than others. Nematode parasites are a good choice and work better than Milky spore. If you are really interested here is a great website of the US Golf Assoc. about Nematode use: http://www.usga.org/turf/green_section_record/2007/mar_apr/nematodes.html
Milky spore is slow acting and needs several years to build up the spores to the level needed to keep the grubs under control.
Another tool is trapping. There is a kit with baffle/can and a lure for Oriental beetles that attracts the male beetles and traps them so there is less chance for mating and therefore egg laying. These have been common for Japanese beetles -first called "Bag-a-bug". They now have them in the Northeast for Oriental beetles. They need to be placed on the ground and pretty close together as it is said the Oriental beetle is not a good flyer(?).

That said, the best preventative to having a pest free lawn, is read what Doug says about keeping a lawn healthy. One common thing I see in the MidWest is many people mow their grass way too short. Keep the mowing height at 3-3 1/2" and your grass will grow much better and healthier.
Let me know how it goes.
Brown patches
by: Cheryl

Thanks for the info! Have not seen the black beetle again but if I do, I'll get a photo here for you to see. Interesting about the lawn...yes, I DO have brown patches! I brought a sample of it to the nursery as they suggested because they mentioned white grubs too! They didn't see anything wrong with the sample and were unaware of the beetle I found later on the hostas so now I was not treating the lawn. I have lots of brown patches! I guess I'll start treating the lawn for white grub. Any suggestions?
Oriental Beetle
by: Moni

The picture is of the Oriental beetle. The adult feeds on flowers such as daisies or roses, but do not cause much damage. The larva (white grubs)are the pest, having become the biggest turf pest in the northeast. The adult emerges late June/early July and lays eggs in grass. The eggs hatch into worms or better known as white grubs that feed on lawns. Do you have a problem with your lawn having brown patches or animals digging it up?
So, this is not a pest of your hosta. Not sure about the black beetle you mentioned without more information...please send a photo so I can help identify it.
Thanks.

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