Potato Bugs

The potato bug, also known as the Colorado beetle, is a small beetle decorated with vertical stripes, nothing to be afraid of, right?

Well, did you know that no one can scare potato farmers as much as the potato bug?  That’s because a few of these bugs can easily ruin an entire potato crop.

This wasn’t always the case.  A long, long time ago, potatoes didn’t really grow in North America, and the potato bug was nowhere to be seen either.  The first people to cultivate potatoes were the Incas, who lived in South America.  When the Europeans arrived to the New World, they tried eating potatoes, liked them, and took them back to Europe with them, where they became very popular.  In fact, when the first immigrants came to North America, they brought the potato plants with them.  Now that’s a journey to be proud of!

And what about the potato bugs?  Well, they weren’t always known for their love of potatoes.  Originally from Mexico, these pesky bugs survived on a plant known as buffalo bur.  As the potatoes were introduced throughout North America, the potato bugs got a taste as well, and they liked them so much that they gave up the buffalo bur for good!

One of the reasons the potato bug has become such an enemy to the potato farmer is due to its ability to develop so quickly.  The eggs, which quickly change to larvae, feed for just three weeks then drop into the ground, returning ten days later as adult beetles ready to lay eggs.  The only thin slowing these beetles down is they have a few enemies of their own, such as toads, snakes, ladybird beetles, birds, wasps, flies, and stinkbugs, to name a few.

Who Am I?

I am famous for playing “follow the leader.”  A man named Jean Henri Fabre first discovered my head-to-tail trails on an everygreen tree.  If you put me on a bowl with several of my friends, we will follow each other around forever, or at least until we wear down.  Who Am I?

Answer: erbaF rallipretac

Lines and Stripes:  Draw two outlines of a beetle.  On one, add vertical stripes and on the other, make the  stripes horizontal.  Which beetle appears larger?  Now, take two more outlines and color one beetle a light color and the other one dark.  Is there any difference in how they appear? 

Now, consider this:  If you’re trying to look taller, which way should you wear your stripes?  And, if you want your room to look bigger, what shades of paint should you choose?

Ladybug Gardens

Flower gardeners also like to have ladybugs in their gardens.  Why?

Because these pretty bugs will eat aphids, which are a menace to the flowers.  Another bug that can protect the flowers from pests is the praying mantis.  Gardners can order them too, through a nursery, seed catalog, or over the Internet. 

Praying mantises will eat most of the crop-damaging insects and keep your garden fairly bug-free.  As a matter of fact, if a praying mantis gets hungry enough, it will also eat its own babies and spouse!  Female praying mantises have been known to eat the head right off their men! 

Curiously, this doesn’t kill the unlucky bug.  Because of the way insect bodies work, they can survive without heads for some time, the only problem is that without a mouth, they can no longer eat and eventually die of starvation.  So, when someone warns you not to lose your head, just think what it might mean for a bug like the praying mantis!