Hi, just wondering if anyone can ID these bugs that invade my roses and other flowers every year. I only see them this time of year but they totally decimate the flowers very quickly. I've attached a photo of the bugs on the rose and the damage they do to the roses.
Thank you
Sandy
Hi Sandy
I am not sure but they look like flea beetles. Are the insects damaging the new leaf growth as well?
There are various ways to get rid of flea beetles.
1 Sprinkle diatomaceous earth powder over the flowers, leaves and soil around the plant. This will kill the beetles and is non toxic to humans.
2 Spray Neem Oil over flowers and leaves. This will discourage them from feeding and also interfere with their reproductive lifecycle.
3 If you have only few you can use sticky yellow traps to catch the flees as they jump. This is effective when there are only a few insects but from the look of you poor roses you need to use either method 1 or 2.
I hope this helps
Kind regards
Annie
Hi Annie,
Thank you so much for your reply. I looked up Flea beetles and although these are not hard like I thought beetles are (these are soft, as I squash them) there is one called Apthona Flava which really looks the same. I wasn’t sure if they are even found in Australia but I will definitely try to get the things you have suggested to try to eradicate the little buggers. There are thousands of them!! They don’t touch the leaves at all, just the flowers but anything is worth trying.
I live a fair way from the nearest big town so it might be a little while before I can get them if our closest town doesn’t have it, but I will let you know how it goes.
Thank you so much for your help, I really hope this is the year I can get rid of them and get to enjoy my roses.