Last month I first encountered the Striped Cucumber Beetle (Acalymma vittata) in a neighbor’s garden. I was immediately taken by his cool, sophisticated, man-about-town look. The black and light yellow stripes down his back make him look like he is dressed formally. The translucent orange high collar, though, adds a splash of color to his ensemble and causes him to really stand out in a crowd. This well-dressed dandy, however, has a deep dark secret. Beneath the surface of this Dr. Jekyll lurks a Mr. Hyde.
I ran into him today in my friend’s garden. Previously, the garden had been green and flowering. Now the garden looked like a war zone, with signs of devastation everywhere. The leaves of the plants had all been ravaged and looked like the image below.
So I confronted the striped cucumber beetle about what had happened to the leaves. I asked him to swear an oath to tell the hole truth, and nothing but the truth. Initially he resisted and then he admitted to a hole in one. Finally he confessed and named the other beetles who had participated. The judge, however, may be lenient with him because he took personal responsibility for his actions and acknowledged that the hole thing had been his idea.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Tell your friend about neme oil for her garden. I think I first heard about it on CBC radio, on a popular gardening call in show. I had a bunch of red beetles attacking my Lilies this spring (didn’t think to photograph them at the time)- and I gave the plants a light spritz with neme oil a few times- and they haven’t been back. It’s harmless to the plant- it’s used to create a sheen on the leaves- but it makes it unpleasant tasting or slippery or something and the beetles go away. Not sure if it works for all beetles or on all plants, but it worked for us.
I’ll pass on the tip. My friend tells me that the one plant that was almost totally chewed up is a weed (which is good news).
Your beetle looks a bit like a 1920s gangster.
He’s probably got a gang.
There were at least three of them that I could see yesterday, I couldn’t tell if they were carrying Tommy guns.
they could easily conceal them under those shells.
Those little bugs can do a huge amount of damage.