Question
QUESTION: I have planted a garden every year for 10 years now and fought the normal pests along the way...and won every time. I am at a loss now because the last 2 years I've had a strange new bug emerge on my green bean and wax bean plants and I can't get rid of them. I have searched the internet and can not find what it is. It is a yellow bug with chunks of black hair coming off their body. They are small bugs with sticky little bottoms.  It's hard to pull them off the plants. I'd really like to know what they are, how I could have gotten them and how to eradicate them (without using toxic mixes, which I don't want to do!)I try growing my beans in different areas of the garden, but they keep coming back.  Doesn't matter if it's a bush bean or pole bean.  They start eating the leaves, then work their way to the bean itself. A couple here and there would not be so bad, but I'm talking infestation here...help!!

ANSWER: Your biggest mistake: No crop rotation.

There's a reason crop rotation works.  Few pests can get a destructive grip on territory in a single season, and they can't wait around twiddling their thumbs until their Dinner of Choice returns 2 or 3 seasons later.  Much easier to move on to a more guaranteed buffet.

But give them 2 straight seasons back to back, and you're asking for trouble.  In your case, if I understand you correctly, you gave them a decade's run of the garden.  Along the way, weird things started showing up, rearing their heads like Putin over Alaska.

You do leave out a few details that unfortunately would be a key to identification of this bad bug.

For one, I have no idea whatsoever where on Earth you are growing these beans.  OK, I can probably cross out the North and South Poles and further south, but how much?  What hemisphere are you in?  Is it Summer?  Need to know this.  A zipcode if you are in the USA would be best.  Don't worry, I won't show up at your door.

Next: Was this "bug" a worm?  A larvae?  Did it have wings?  Did it fly or jump or crawl over the leaves and beans?  Any eggs or other versions of this?

Finally: Would you please confirm that you did not practice crop rotation; confirm you did not use traditional pesticides OR any "organic" pesticide; did not use anything stronger than Water to eject these unwanted visitors from the leaves of those Beans.

Oh... I would like to know what Beans you are growing just in case this is a factor in the narrowed down field of pests.  If you happen to know, good.  Any companion plants you grow with them should also be mentioned, and in that case I would like to know if you see them being attacked, too.

Thank you for writing.  Please address these issues so that we can solve your problem before the Season begins (or ends, as the case may be, should you be gardening in the Southern Hemisphere).

Remember, I get questions from all over the planet -- India, Spain, Mexico, South America, you name it they read and write it.

THE LONG ISLAND GARDENER

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Sorry for the vagueness.  I live in the Northeast - central Vermont to be exact.  My garden is approx. 30'x50' and I have tried crop rotation.  Maybe my garden is just not big enough?  The bugs are are not worms nor do they have wings.  They kind of resemble a yellow ladybug, but without the hard body shell, without wings, and without the black dots (well replace the black dots with black little fuzz/hair.  I have noticed a few tiny clusters of eggs on the bottom of the leaves (orangish in color). I could not tell you the names of the beans I have used...I do usually plant "Blue Lake" beans(i think!).  I use a variety of green beans, wax beans and sometimes burgundy beans.  I don't use pesticides and do not intend to.  The most I've used is soapy water (which doesn't work). I will sit out in my garden for hours picking these little sticky bugs off my bean plants to no avail. They do not affect any other plant in my garden - snow peas, garden peas, tomatos, lettuce, asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, beets. I use cow manure to fertilize my garden as well as compost.  My garden also sits next to an alfalfa field. I don't know if that would cause it either.  Again, I only started having trouble the last 2 seasons, but fear it may be too late.  Thank you so much for your help!  Oh yeah, any chance I can get an easy fix for aphids on my snow peas? :>

Answer
Let's start with the Aphids on Snow Peas.  Aphids are the favorite food of all Ladybug species.  Pick them up at your garden center or you can order them in the mail.  Store them in the refrigerator the night before (to slow them down), then sprinkle them around the base of your plants at dawn and they'll go hunting for breakfast.  You'll only need one dose per year in my experience at the most, and if they are not using pesticides on that Alfalfa, you may not have to repeat for years.

With regard to your main question, I am going to give this my best shot, but it does not have to be my last shot -- if you can address any of these, please feel free and I'll consider the new information.

SOME of your description sounds like Ladybug Larvae.  It is probably not -- of course, these Larvae do not eat leaves, they are strict carnivores and have no appetite for anything with chlorophyll.  I have to present it, however, if only to cross it off the short list of suspects.  Here's what they look like:

www.danesphoto.com/ladybugs3.html

and

ladybuglady.com/ladybugweb9.htm

Alternately, it could be (and this is MY guess) the Colorado Potato Beetle:

learningstore.uwex.edu/pdf/A3678.PDF

and

creatures.ifas.ufl.edu/veg/leaf/potato_beetles.htm

Scroll down to the Eggs, Pupae and Larvae photos.

If not, consider that they might be Ladybugs which are simply victims of circumstantial evidence.  Their favorite meals may be unobtrusive, while a Bad Bug does this damage in the dark, at night, and flies off to hide by day.

Incidentally, I want to mention how impressed I am that you have a garden that big.  You must grow a lot of food.  Sounds awesome.

As I mentioned earlier, the Ladybug's most favorite food is Aphids.  Hard to notice since they can be small and often green.  But Ladybugs are also known to be very fond of the larvae of the Colorado Potato Beetle:

www.panhandle.unl.edu/potato/Beneficial_Insects/Lady_Beetles/lady_beetles.htm

Wikipedia will tell you everything you need to know about the Colorado Potato Beetle, including how much it loves to feast on leaves.  Leptinotarsa species have been a serious agricultural pest for some time, and there is no shortage of research on it.

A study in Bulgaria found Leptinotarsa was repelled by planting Peas:

www.actahort.org/books/579/579_88.htm

This is a practice called "intercropping".  Since you do crop rotation, you are probably familiar with it.

But I think the real solution here is Ladybugs.  On all counts.

Because if you DON'T know what this particular bug is (you should take photos of these insects as soon as possible), you can rest assured that Ladybugs will enjoy feasting on their larvae.  Remember, Colorado Potato Beetles are usually attracted to Solanaceous crops, not Green/Wax/Pole Beans.  If you do try this, I think you will be amazed at how easy it is to get control of this problem with a simple common Insect Friend like this.

Any thoughts?

THE LONG ISLAND GARDENER