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Flea Beetles

Flea Beetles

Family Chrysomelidae (Alticini)

Insect

Tiny, shiny beetles that jump like fleas when disturbed and riddle leaves with a peppering of small round holes. They are most damaging in spring on seedlings and young transplants, which they can stunt or kill before the plants get going.

🔎 How to spot it

Small beetles, mostly 1/16 to 1/8 inch, in black, bronze, bluish, brown, or metallic gray, some with stripes, with enlarged hind legs that let them spring away when you reach for them. You will usually notice the damage first: a scattering of small, round to irregular holes that give leaves a shot-hole or peppered look. Look for the beetles on the leaf surface on warm days.

🥀 Damage it causes

Adults chew many small holes and pits in leaves, giving a characteristic shot-hole pattern. Light feeding is merely cosmetic on established plants, but heavy feeding wilts, stunts, or kills seedlings and young transplants, and some flea beetles also spread plant diseases. Cole crops, eggplant, potato, tomato, radish, and many greens are favorite targets.

🛡️ Prevent it

Cover seedlings and transplants with floating row cover from the day you plant, sealing the edges, and remove it only once plants are large enough to shrug off feeding, or at flowering for crops that need pollination. Delaying planting until early summer lets you skip the worst of the spring beetles, and setting out larger transplants helps them outgrow damage. Clear crop debris and weedy mustards that shelter the beetles.

🧯 If it is already here

Healthy, established plants usually tolerate flea beetles and need no treatment. Where seedlings are under heavy attack, a fast-growing trap crop at the bed edge, or spinosad or another approved product on the most vulnerable plants, can help. Keep plants watered and growing fast so they outpace the feeding.

💡 Good to know

Flea beetles overwinter as adults in debris and weeds and emerge hungry in spring, which is why young plants take the brunt. The shot-hole damage looks alarming but rarely matters on a vigorous mature plant; the real priority is protecting seedlings during their first few weeks.

🌱 Plants it attacks

176 plants in the library can be attacked by this pest

Adirondack Blue PotatoAji Amarillo Pepper🥔All Blue PotatoAmbrosia CornAmish Paste TomatoAnaheim PepperArugulaAshwagandhaAunt Molly's Ground CherryBanana PepperBeauregard Sweet Potato🍅Beefmaster TomatoBetter Boy Tomato🥬Bibb Lettuce🍅Big Beef TomatoBig Boy TomatoBlack Beauty EggplantBlack Cherry TomatoBlack Krim Tomato🥬Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce🥕Black Spanish RadishBloomsdale SpinachBok Choy🍅Box Car Willie TomatoBrandywine TomatoBroccoli RabeBrussels SproutsBull's Blood BeetBurgundy OkraButtercrunch LettuceCalabrese BroccoliCarolina Reaper PepperCayenne PepperCelebrity Tomato🥬Champion CollardsCheddar CauliflowerCherokee Purple TomatoCherry Belle RadishChicoryChinese BroccoliChioggia BeetChoy SumClemson Spineless OkraCollard GreensCubanelle PepperCylindra BeetDaikon RadishDandelionDe Cicco BroccoliDetroit Dark Red BeetDwarf Blue Curled Vates Kale🥬Dwarf Siberian KaleEarly Girl Tomato🌸Easter Egg RadishEndiveEpazoteFairy Tale EggplantFingerling Potato🥕French Breakfast RadishFresno PepperFriséeGerman Butterball Potato🍅German Queen TomatoGhost PepperGlobe AmaranthGolden Bantam CornGolden BeetGreen Bell PepperGreen CabbageGreen Leaf LettuceGreen Zebra TomatoHabanero PepperHakurei TurnipHorseradishHungarian Wax PepperIceberg LettuceIndigo Rose TomatoItalian EggplantJalapeño PepperJanuary King CabbageJapanese EggplantJuliet Grape TomatoKellogg's Breakfast TomatoKennebec PotatoKohlrabiKomatsuna🍅La Roma IV TomatoLacinato KaleLamb's QuarterLemon Boy Tomato🥬Little Gem Lettuce🥬Lollo Rossa LettuceMâcheMalabar SpinachMammoth SunflowerMizuna🍅Mortgage Lifter TomatoMr. Stripey TomatoMustard GreensNantes Carrot

For educational and informational purposes only. Pest control advice is general guidance drawn from university cooperative extension sources; always identify a pest positively and read and follow the label on any product before use, especially around food crops, children, and pets.