# Pest Control Outdoors



## Adam C (Feb 7, 2013)

A couple of my ponds have been inundated with water primrose flea beetles (Lysathia ludoviciana or a closely related sp.) Apparently these little guys have been suggested as a biological way to control several species of aquatic plants: http://www.apms.org/japm/vol34/v34p74.pdf

So far, these guys have shown a desire to consume Ludwigia repens, L. brevipes, L. arcuata, L. inclinata, Persicaria species, and a few different Rotala species; Not as host specific as the literature suggests.

I've tried flooding the systems, but it was temporary at best. I've been using a compost tea I concocted to control aphids, thrips, whiteflies, and a few other species, but these flea beetles do not seem affected by it. I've tried DE and again, they seem undeterred.

Most of the "not-so-toxic" pesticides are VERY toxic to aquatic organisms so I'm looking for new ideas and methods to control these little pests. How do the aquatic nurseries deal with pests?

Adam


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## snakehuntr_007 (Mar 11, 2015)

I have heard of these guys. While trying to search to see how to eradicate them, all I came across was articles on how to use them as a biological control. I did, however, find an article that stated the only known host for the larval stage of this insect is parrot feather. Are you located in the south by chance? Are the beetles on the emersed part of the plants?


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## Adam C (Feb 7, 2013)

Yes, I'm in central Texas so we get a ton of different bugs.

Its true about the info, and from this outbreak, its easy to see why it would be of use against pest plants. Its hard to know what species they actually are, but the larvae don't seem to discriminate that much on host plants. They mostly like the Ludwigia species though.


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## snakehuntr_007 (Mar 11, 2015)

I am interested in this because I'm a fisheries and wildlife biologist. It's incredible how many biological pests we introduce to control invasive species, only for the introduced species to become invasive. If they are on the emersed growth, I'd look at buying your own biological pest control. You can order ladybugs and praying mantises by the thousands for relatively cheap. I have some friends with masters degrees and one with a PhD in natural resources. Maybe they will take an interest in this. I'll find out if mantises or ladybugs will prey on the beetles, but the only way to stop them would be to break up the life cycle. I only saw parrot feather as a larval host but apparently not a whole lot is known about this insect. In laboratory testing they found that they will eat most plants if their preferred plant isn't available (I forgot which that was, I'll have to find the article again). Is there another source of water nearby that they could have come gym l from?


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

This is a long shot, but would some form of _Bacillus thuringiensis _ be effective?


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## Adam C (Feb 7, 2013)

I wanted to post an update on whats happened in the last two days. 

On Monday morning, I mixed my compost tea (which was inoculated with microorganisms - including some Bacillus species) with water (~50% dilution) and reapplied to the plants. The first spraying occurred a week and a half ago with little effect. By about 11am Monday there were HUNDREDS of these flea beetles all over the plants, feeding, mating, just having a good time at my expense. 

I went out yesterday morning and used a vacuum to manually remove the bugs I saw. To my surprise, I only found about 50-100 bugs. By the afternoon, I started seeing flea beetle larvae leaving the ponds. I also took the time to pull some of the more damaged plants and there wasn't a single stem that didn't have dead larvae on it. 

I rechecked the ponds today and so far I have only counted about a dozen beetles and very few larvae. It seems the compost tea might have done the trick - and done so in an environmentally safe way.

There is one catch however, I have 2 compost teas going. One is the original that works on thrips, aphids, etc (this was the first one I applied). The other tea (the one I used Monday) was made using the original compost tea using the same methods. I'll repeat treatment in a week using the original tea to see if there is any difference.


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## Adam C (Feb 7, 2013)

@snakehuntr, My whole goal was to use a biological control. Due to the numbers that were in the pond, the mantis or ladybugs were probably too little too late. It may help prevent an infestation by keeping numbers in check though. The larvae were mostly on Ludwigia species (I don't have any myriophyllums in the ponds). There is a flood plain a few hundred yards from us. Its not very wet most of the time, but I'm assuming that is where they came from.

@Michael, I used several species of Bacillus to inoculate the compost tea, but I don't have the means to find out what is actually alive and in what quantity. BT was not one of them however.

There are sources that document some subspecies of BT working effectively on different species of flea beetles: http://www.certifiedorganic.bc.ca/programs/osdp/I-068 Tuber Flea Beetle Final Report.pdf


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## snakehuntr_007 (Mar 11, 2015)

Adam, could you pm me the recipes for your tea? I would like to save them for if I ever move back South. I hope that they are gone for good


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## dervin33 (Apr 22, 2015)

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## Adam C (Feb 7, 2013)

Well it appears as though the compost tea was ineffective. The reduction in numbers was quickly followed by an explosion. Yellow Spotted Cucumber beetles have also reared their ugly heads. Its back to the drawing board on the compost tea, and in the mean time, I'll be researching other methods.

Here is a pic of the adults and larvae on Ludwigia repens. You can see how much damage they actually do.


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## snakehuntr_007 (Mar 11, 2015)

Maybe you could use your tea again and then dose small amounts for a few weeks?


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