Beetle Control

I've liked bugs for as long as I can remember. I've been told it's a boy thing, but I disagree. While I've always thought insects were neat, I never truly appreciated them until about six years ago when I took an entomology class with Dr. Guelda at Bemidji State University. Dr. Guelda, a woman, taught that class with such knowledge and enthusiasm that no one who attended even one of her lectures on the subject stood a snowball's chance in hell of ever looking at an insect the same way again. As far as I'm concerned, of all the insects I've learned about, both from her and on my own, beetles (order Coleoptera) are the single most fascinating group of organisms on the planet. In terms of number of species, they're also the most abundant. One in four of all the known species on Earth is a beetle. That's a lot of beetles.

It does, unfortunately, stand to reason that with such an abundance of species, some of them are bound to be pains in the ass. While many beetle species want nothing more than to simply avoid us as they go about eating other insects (offering up some free natural pest control), it seems that many others exist for the sole purpose of pissing us off. They get in gardens, eat plants, invade houses, and wreck our food. To some of us, they just look creepy and icky and therefore must die. So, while it does go slightly against my nature, I've put together this little article on beetle pest control to help you combat those beetle pests. Keep in mind as you read through that this is an article about general beetle control and is not tailored to controlling specific species. If, after reading this article you have not found what you're looking for, please check to the right of this page for an ever growing list of species-specific articles.

Behavioral Control: Simple life changes to help you with controlling beetles

Consider putting up with them. I know this doesn't sound like the best way to control beetles, but if you go on a beetle killing rampage, you'll run the risk of annihilating a whole host of beneficial beetles along with the pest beetles. Many beetles like ladybugs and ground beetles are predaceous and do a fantastic job of eating large numbers of garden pests (including other types of beetles). So, if you spread a broad spectrum insecticide and kill everything including beneficial insects, you may find that, in the long run, you and your garden were better off before you meddled.

Keep your garden a little tidier. You can't be lazy when attempting to control pest beetle populations. Walk through your garden at least three times a week to pick up any and all fallen or falling plant debris. This includes leaves, twigs, stems, sticks, flowers, petals, etc. By keeping the ground clean, you reduce the number of hiding places for beetles. As you wander through the garden, you should also pay attention to the undersides of leaves. If you find a little cluster of eggs, you may consider plucking the leaf they're on. Just make sure you don't get rid of ladybug eggs. A quick Google image search will show you what they look like.

To control an indoor beetle infestation, increase cleaning. The first thing you should do is to start doing the dishes more often. After that, start sweeping and vacuuming on a regular basis. Dishes should be done whenever you have dirty ones. Don't wait until there's a pile. Floors should be cleaned two to three times a week. I say all this because many of the pests that beetles like to eat enjoy the crap that you leave on dishes or drop on the floor. So, if you're inviting those types of pests in, beetles are sure to follow. Also, pay close attention to your cupboards and keep them clean. If you've had beetles in your food containers (especially grains), go through everything in every cupboard and on every shelf, examine it, and dispose of it if it's infested.

Habitat Control: Get rid of beetles by not letting them get comfortable

Keep the perimeter of your home clear. Most beetles are quite cautious and depend heavily on places to hide. Good hiding places include debris, long grasses, bushes, bark mulch, and plants. Unfortunately, these are all things that people like to put right up against their houses. This makes getting rid of beetles much more difficult. The reason it makes it difficult is because if there is a good beetle habitat right up against your house, beetles are gonna hang out there. If they're hanging out there, there's a really good chance they're gonna find a way inside. The lesson here is that you should clear all that crap away from your house so that you stop making it easier for beetles to find their way in.

Clean up the garden in the fall. A good way to avoid beetle damage in the spring is to take steps in the fall to keep them from overwintering in your garden. One way to do this is to clean up your garden after the growing season. When you do this, remove all plant debris from the ground, remove any dead plants, and cut back any perennials. This will deprive beetles of shelter, insulation, and, in some cases, food. After you're done cleaning up, run the tiller to kill beetles and beetle larvae that have already made their way underground.

Grow some companion plants. There are numerous plants that can be planted in and among your garden plants that will help you to repel beetles. Unfortunately, there isn't any one that works for every type of beetle. There are, however, several common companion plants that do help with at least a small variety of beetle species. Plant beetle repellent flora like basil, catnip, marigold, horseradish, and anything from the onion family. For best results, plant a variety.

Physical Controls: Using barriers to avoid beetle infestations

Keeping beetles out of your house. When attempting to control beetles in the house, it's important to make sure no new ones get in. This usually isn't too difficult a task, but it can be a time consuming one. Start by repairing window screens, putting weather stripping in windows and doors, putting in door sweeps, and covering air vents with insect mesh. Once that's done you'll need to close off any other entrances to your home. Walk around the house with a caulking gun and seal any holes or cracks you might see. This includes spaces around electrical outlets and light fixtures, spaces around door and window frames, areas where wires and cables enter the house, and cracks in the foundation or mortar.

Keeping beetles out of your garden. While this most certainly is a difficult task, it's not an impossible one. And there's really only one way to do it: floating row covers. Floating row covers are sheets of very fine mesh that are designed to let water and sunlight through while keeping insects out. Row covers can be used to cover whole gardens or cut down to cover individual plants.

Keeping beetles out of your food. Start storing any grains (flour, grits, oats, cereal, cookies, etc.) in containers with tight-fitting lids. This will help you to avoid beetles like weevils. Once those grains are in good containers, set the freezer to its coldest setting and put those containers in there for four or five days to kill any eggs that might be hoping to hatch.

Mechanical control: Methods and devices for killing beetles without chemicals

Pick 'em by hand and drown 'em. This is the most basic thing I can teach people who are trying to figure out how to get rid of beetles. Grab a small bucket, preferably with a handle, put a few inches of water in it, add a squirt of dish soap, walk slowly through your garden, check thoroughly for beetles, pick them off when you find them, and drop them in the bucket to drown them. Remember to leave the ladybugs alone.

Shake beetles onto a drop cloth. This is a slight variation on the method above and is recommended for people dealing with more severe beetle infestations. All you have to do is lay a drop cloth of some sort (tarp, old sheet, old blanket, etc.) on the ground underneath infested plants, shake the plants with just enough force to knock beetles down onto the drop cloth, pick up the beetles, and toss them into your bucket of soapy water. Pick the beetles as quickly as you can so none of them escape. You may wish to enlist a second set of hands.

Control beetles with beetle traps. Most beetle traps attract beetles with sex pheromones (self explanatory) or aggregation pheromones (pheromones that draw groups of insects together for things like feeding or nesting). This is fantastic since traps with pheromones are much more species specific than things like light traps that capture a whole host of different insects and not just beetles. In general, pheromone traps are sticky, so after a beetle is drawn to it, it becomes trapped in goo and dies. Pheromone beetle traps are available for weevils, Japanese beetles, multicolored Asian lady beetles, carpet beetles, cucumber beetles, grain beetles, cigarette beetles, and more. Be aware, if you plan to place these traps outdoors, place them as far away from the plants you're trying to protect as possible. Pheromone traps lure beetles in and you don't want them to be lured into your garden.

Use a vacuum cleaner to kill beetle pests found in the house. Simple, yet effective. Any vacuum cleaner with a hose attachment works great for sucking up beetles. This is especially true of multicolored Asian lady beetles. It doesn't have to stop there though. If you keep running into big nasty beetles in the basement, suck them up too. Actually, if you have a spare vacuum or a shop-vac, leave it in the area of the house where beetles are most frequently spotted. If you don't want the vacuum to kill beetles, attach a nylon stocking to the end of the hose with the toe of the stocking running down the hose's inside. This way, when you suck up beetles, they just end up in the nylon and can be released outside.

Biological Control: Organic beetle control

Kill pest beetles with pyrethrins. Of all the organic pesticides available, pyrethrins are undoubtedly the best known and most popular. This organic insecticide is derived from the flowers of the pyrethrum daisy, a type of chrysanthemum. Pyrethrins kill beetles and other insects quickly and indiscriminately. Pyrethrins are super easy to come by and are sold by a million and a half different online retailers and home garden stores.

Boric acid works nicely for killing beetles in the house. Boric acid, a powder made from the mineral borate, is a weak acid that acts both as a desiccant and as a stomach poison. Place boric acid in cracks and crevices around the house where beetles may be hiding.

Diatomaceous earth is another good organic pesticide. For taking care of beetles in the house, this would, without question, be my first choice. DE is a desiccant made from ground-up fossilized diatoms. When beetles walk through it, they get little lacerations, dry out, and die. Use it in the same manner as boric acid.

Kill and repel beetles with neem oil. Neem oil, derived from the neem tree and applied by spraying, helps take care of beetles in a number of ways. It acts as a repellent, an antifeedant (makes otherwise tasty plants taste yucky), and as an insect growth regulator or IGR (disrupts the molting process and causes death).

Kill beetles with sabadilla. Sabadilla is an organic pesticide made from the ground-up seeds of the South American sabadilla lily. It is both a stomach and a contact poison. While sabadilla does work well for killing beetles, it also, unfortunately, kills honeybees. Don't use sabadilla if you have honeybees around.

Wipe out beetles with Rotenone. This is one of the most toxic organic pesticides available. Rotenone powder is made from the roots of several South American legumes. It is available for beetle control as a wettable powder for spraying plants. After exposure, beetles immediately stop feeding but will not die for several days. It kills by disrupting cellular respiration. Rotenone is also extremely toxic to fish. Do not use it if you have ornamental fish in outdoor ponds.

Irritate beetles with agricultural lime. This stuff won't usually kill beetles, but it is often irritating enough to make them leave. Pick some up at your garden shop and mix ¼‒½ cup of it with 1 gallon of water (or per package instructions), put it in a sprayer, and go to town. Actually, don't go to town. Overuse can change the pH of your soil and make it more difficult for you to grow certain plants.

Deter beetles with kaolin clay. This stuff is pretty neat. It's nothing more than a wettable powdered clay that is mixed with water and sprayed on plants. When kaolin dries on plants, it protects their soft tissue from being eaten, makes the surface of the leaves inhospitable to egg laying, and acts as an irritant to insects when chunks of the stuff break off of leaves and stick to their bodies. When purchasing, look for Surround WP.

Control beetles with beneficial nematodes. Nematodes are tiny little worms that find their way inside the bodies of beetle larvae. Once in, they more or less liquify the beetle larva's tissues and eat them. Because there are numerous different types of beneficial nematodes, and they all seem to prefer different species of beetle larvae, it is important to identify the type of beetles you are trying to control before purchasing the nematodes. Nematodes are available through online vendors as well as through lawn and garden stores.

Let lacewings and ladybugs do your beetle killing for you. Both of these critters can be purchased from most any garden store or nursery. The beauty in using them is that they are both happy to eat beetle eggs. By doing so, they help take care of your beetle problem before you even have one.

Spined soldier bugs (Podisus maculiventris) are also happy to kill beetles for you. These little stink bugs are quite happy to prey on immature Mexican bean beetles, Colorado potato beetles, and flea beetles. While they will show up to your garden naturally, they are also commercially available.

Encourage toads and birds to live in your yard and garden. It's no secret that toads and birds eat insects. Set up bird houses, nesting shelves, and toad houses. Did I say toad houses? Yes, I said toad houses. They're actually quite neat and toads really do use them. Just make sure to get (or make) one with two openings so the toad can escape if a predator finds its lair. Place the house in a shady spot, put a few soft, dead leaves in and around the house, and provide the toad with a little water. To do this, take a shallow dish, bury it so the top of it is flush with the ground, and pour some water in it.

Chemical Control: How to kill beetles with insecticides

Killing outside beetles and keeping them from coming in. If you want to kill beetles quickly and you don't care how many extra arms you grow in the process, get yourself a good beetle insecticide. Luckily, beetle insecticides come in more different flavors than you will be able to count on all of your shiny new extra fingers. Actually, most of them aren't really beetle insecticides; they're just pesticides that kill the hell out of everything. For many of us, that's just fine. Most can be applied as sprays or scattered as granules and kill on contact and residually. Some of the more effective active ingredients (and brand names) are deltamethrin (Suspend SC, D-Force HPX), cypermethrin (Demon WP), bifenthrin (Talstar P), lambda-cyhalothrin (Demand CS, Cyonara), and cyfluthrin (Cy-Kick). Most of these are for use as perimeter treatments and as crack and crevice treatments. While many are safe for use on bushes, shrubs, and ornamentals, they should not be used on food crops.

Killing beetles that found their way indoors. I'm gonna go ahead and let you in on a little secret; this paragraph is pretty unnecessary. That being said, I'll keep it brief. If you take a look at the paragraph above, you will see a bunch of different beetle pesticides listed. Pick one. Pretty much all of them are safe for use indoors as well as out, and whatever you choose will work well for killing beetles. Just make sure to read the labels. Some are labeled for crack and crevice only while some of them are safe for kitchens and food prep areas. The labels of others tell you to cover cooking surfaces. So yeah, pick a beetle pesticide and let the carnage begin.