Pest on crop
Asparagus Beetle on asparagus
Crioceris asparagi
Blue-black beetle with cream spots that feeds on asparagus spears in spring and ferns in summer. Defoliates ferns reducing crown energy storage for next year.
- Pest
- Asparagus Beetle
- Scientific name
- Crioceris asparagi
- Crop
- Asparagus
- Total hosts
- 1
Asparagus Beetle on asparagus
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Signs on asparagus
- ▸ Dark eggs glued vertically to spear surfaces
- ▸ Beetles and larvae on spears and ferns
- ▸ Browning damaged spear tips
- ▸ Defoliated fern stalks in summer
IPM controls
- ✓ Hand-pick adults at peak emergence in spring
- ✓ Cut and remove all spears every 2-3 days during harvest (removes eggs)
- ✓ Encourage parasitic Tetrastichus wasps
- ✓ Late-fall sanitation: cut and remove ferns to deny overwintering shelter
- ✓ Targeted spinosad spray at peak infestation
Other crops affected by asparagus beetle
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