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What’s eating your kale? Look for harlequins

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED JUN 15, 2020

The harlequin bug eats and eats and eats. Heavy infestations will kill plants. (Photos courtesy UC Integrated Pest Management)

This stink bug cousin loves many crops

One day, the dino kale looked fine. The next, white blotches started appearing on the dark green leaves.

Then came the explosion: Hundreds of colorful bugs that looked like mutated lady beetles covered the kale plants – and just those plants. Instead of black dots on red wings, these black bugs were covered with bright orange and red markings.

The harlequins had hatched. Their eggs had been hiding in the textured leaves of the kale. These nymphs were too young to fly, so they had to stay put.

That’s when it’s time to wipe them out before they can take wing – and attack more plants.

Harlequin bugs are multiplying all over Sacramento. They’re making the most of cool-season crops such as kale, cabbage or mustard that have hung around into early summer. Once the eggs hatch, the bugs have something to eat.

And they do eat and eat and eat. A member of the stink bug family, harlequins plunge their feeding tubes into fruit or vegetables, and suck out the juices. Besides deforming the fruit, the enzymes they leave behind makes it inedible. They also feed on leafy greens, causing white or yellow blotches where they ate. Heavy infestations will kill plants.

When you find harlequin bugs, knock them into a bucket
of soapy water.

The young ones tend to hang out in clusters or large groups. The nymphs go through several stages, molting four or five times before reaching their adult size and coloring. When full grown, the Murgantia histrionica are shiny black with orange, yellow or red markings. Adults are about 3/8-inch long.

Also like other stink bugs, harlequins seem immune to most pesticides. The best control is hand-picking the nymphs off plants and squishing them (with gloves – they do stink). Or knock them into a bucket with soapy water; they can’t swim. Pull, bag and discard heavily infested plants.

UC Cooperative Extension master gardeners recommend destroying old kales, cabbages, mustards and other potential host plants so the harlequins don’t have a place to hang out. Also clean up weedy spots near fruit trees or garden areas. Those weeds may shelter harlequins.

For more information: http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/GARDEN/VEGES/PESTS/harlequinbug.html

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Keywords:

gardening Sacramento integrated pest management vegetables pests stink bugs summer vegetables garden pests vegetable gardening host plants

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Garden Checklist for week of May 5

Survey your garden after the May 4 rainstorm. Heavy rain and gusty winds can break the neck of large flowers such as roses. Also:

* Keep an eye on new transplants or seedlings; they could take a pounding from the rain.

* Watch out for powdery mildew. Warmth following moist conditions can cause this fungal disease to “bloom,” too. If you see a leaf that looks like it’s dusted with powdered sugar, snip it off.

* After the storm, start setting out tomato transplants, but wait on the peppers and eggplants (they want warmer nights). Pinch off any flowers on new transplants to make them concentrate on establishing roots instead of setting premature fruit.

* Trim dead flowers but not leaves from spring-flowering bulbs such as daffodils and tulips. Those leaves gather energy to create next year's flowers. Also, give the bulbs a fertilizer boost after bloom.

* Pinch chrysanthemums back to 12 inches for fall flowers. Cut old stems to the ground.

* Mulch around plants to conserve moisture and control weeds.

* From seed, plant beans, beets, cantaloupes, carrots, corn, cucumbers, melons, pumpkins, radishes and squash.

* Plant onion sets.

* In the flower garden, plant seeds for asters, cosmos, celosia, marigolds, salvia, sunflowers and zinnias. Transplant petunias, zinnias, geraniums and other summer bloomers.

* Plant perennials and dahlia tubers for summer bloom.

* Don’t wait; plant summer bulbs, such as gladiolus and tuberous begonias.

* Harvest cabbage, lettuce, peas and green onions.

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