New beetle in town causing buzz among local farmers

WAYNESBORO, Tenn. - A tiny insect with a voracious appetite is causing a buzz in southern Tennessee.

When white fringed beetles were discovered in a soybean field near the Hardin County line earlier this month, Ken Burress, director of the University of Tennessee Extension office in Wayne County, was surprised.

"I had never seen one before. I hadn't even heard of them before," Burress said. "They've only been reported in one field, but I suspect there are more fields out there that have them, but no one has reported it because they don't know what they are. We've never had white fringed beetles in this county."

Burress said the insects, which are native to South America, infest about 400 species of plants. Some of their favorite plants are soybeans, corn, Irish potatoes, cotton, okra, sweet potatoes, strawberries and cabbage.

"The ones I saw were really chewing down on some soybeans. There were areas of the field where they had really worked on the soybean leaves. They're pretty rowdy."

He said the 1/2-inch-long insects are easy to identify because of a distinctive white stripe along their sides.

Randall Armstrong, coordinator of the Alabama Cooperative Extension System office in Lauderdale County, suspects the insects are in the Shoals.

"If they've got them in Wayne County, we probably have them, too," Armstrong said. "I haven't heard any reports of them in north Alabama, but that doesn't mean we don't have some."

An indication the insects have invaded a field or garden is severe leaf loss on plants, Burress said. Larvae of the beetles, which live underground, attack the roots of plants. Leaves on the infected plants will turn yellow. In severe infestations, the plant will wilt and die.

"This is definitely a pest we did not need around here," Burress said.

Charles Burmester, a specialist for the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, said white fringed beetles are difficult to control, even with pesticide. Unless leaf loss is extreme, he does not recommend trying to kill them. "You need to have a lot of plant damage to justify spraying for them."

Burress said pyrethrin-based insecticides can be used to reduce white fringed beetle populations. "It doesn't kill all of them, but it does help you control them."

Burress fears there will be more white fringed beetles in the Wayne area in 2008. Each female can lay 2,000 eggs.

"They only lay one generation of eggs each year, which is a plus. But when each female lays as many eggs as these beetles do, a few this year can turn into a bunch next year."

Dennis Sherer can be reached at 740-5746 or dennis.sherer@timesdaily.com.