Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Rosemary beetles
My rosemary plant is infested with little beetles like this:
I consulted an expert friend who responded as follows:
This is a leaf beetle (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaf_beetle), family Chrysomelidae -- worldwide, a huge group that includes the infamous Colorado Beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata). This particular one, surprise surprise, I am 95% sure is Chrysolina americana (Linnaeus, 1758) -- the Rosemary Beetle! (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysolina_americana). Normally they are more brightly coloured than appears to be the case in Dick's picture (Google for images using scientific name) -- Dick should check that, and size (5-8 mm in length, excluding antennae), just to be more confident.
The most useful website for 'action' is the RHS page on this beast:
https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=555
Hope this helps.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Sam R on
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Eeeeek! Ive had a little aphid nibbling by rosemary for years but it's never killed the plant and has left eneough untouched for me to still use. I've never seen a beetle.
As you definetley have a beetle Dick you can hopefully control it organically and just pick them off. Or are there too many? -
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Permalink Reply by Philippa JM on
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We lost a rosemary bush to these little horrors - we tried hand-picking them off but there were so many it became a terrible chore and if we left it for only a little time they'd be back with a vengeance. The poor bush was initially ravaged so rapidly and never properly recovered, so we dug it out in the end, couldn't keep up with them and they'd left it looking awful and chewed up :( If you do try picking them off, slide some paper or similar thing under the branches to catch them, as recommended on the RHS web page, otherwise they just immediately fall to the base of the bush to climb up again later. You can probably win in the end if you're at them every day! Good luck.
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