Tobacco Flea Beetle
Epitrix hirtipennis (Melsheimer), Chrysomelidae, COLEOPTERA

DESCRIPTION

Adult - The adult is a hard-shelled, black, very active beetle about 1.5 mm long. Wing covers have rows of fine distinct punctures. The eyes are black and the antennae 12- segmented.

Egg - The egg is very small (smaller than a pinhead), white when first laid, elongate and pointed at one end.

Larva - The larva is 4.3 to 4.8 mm long when fully developed with a slender, white, 12- segmented body and brownish head. It has three pairs of short, jointed legs on the thorax and a proleg on the last segment.

Pupa - The pupa is whitish with the head bent downward which is typical of pupae of the Chrysomelidae family (leaf-feeding beetles).

BIOLOGY

Distribution - The tobacco flea beetle is present wherever tobacco is grown from Connecticut to Florida.

Host Plants - The tobacco flea beetle is a pest of tobacco, tomato, and potato and will also attack jimsonweed, horsenettle, and ground cherry.

Damage - The tobacco flea beetle is a major pest of tobacco seedlings in plant beds and of tobacco plants in the field. Adult flea beetles damage tobacco plants from the time the plants begin growing in plant beds until harvest by chewing small, rounded holes through the leaves resulting in a "shot hole" appearance. Larvae feed on the roots of the tobacco plant and may tunnel into stalks. Large numbers of larvae may kill seedlings or severely damage newly set plants.

Life History - Adults generally overwinter in litter and trash around tobacco fields. Some may hibernate in tobacco fields if stalks were not destroyed after harvest. In early spring adults migrate into plant beds. They attack seedling and lay eggs on the soil surface beneath tobacco plants. Eggs hatch in about a week and the small, slender, white larvae feed on and tunnel in the roots and stems of tobacco plants for 4 to 5 weeks. There are three instars. After 4 to 7 days as pupae in the soil, adults emerge. With three to four generations per year, tobacco flea beetles continue to attack field tobacco until after harvest when they migrate to litter and trash surrounding the fields for hibernation.

CONTROL

Control of the tobacco flea beetle in plant beds is important because the plant bed is often the source of field infestations and because healthy seedlings are important for a good crop. Trash around plant beds where beetles hibernate should be destroyed and plant beds should be covered. A braconid wasp, Microtonus epitricis (Viereck), is a natural enemy of the adult tobacco flea beetle.

A number of insecticides are available to control the flea beetle in both plant beds and in the field when flea beetle populations reach the economic threshold which averages eight or more adults per small plant. Larger plants should be sprayed when there are 62 or more beetles per plant late in the season. For specific chemical control recommendations, consult the current North Carolina Agricultural Chemicals Manual.