Striped Cucumber Beetles

Acalymma vittatum

Appears: Once weather reaches 65 degrees or more and plants begin to emerge from soil, these pests are abundant.

Detrimental: The striped cucumber beetle eats the emerging plants, seedlings and lay eggs at the base of roots and stems of plants on which they will feed. The major damage caused in gardens is Bacteria Wilt, caused from a bacterium they spread. The beetles carry bacteria in their gut and spread it as they feed on plants. Once the bacterium is inside a plant, it spreads through the plant’s vascular system, causing the plant to wilt and die. Unfortunately, the beetles are attracted to the dying vegetation and pick up more of the bacteria and continue to spread it.

Size: 6.5 mm long