# Different take on Blister Beetles



## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Blister Beetles in forage soybeans?

Regards, Mike

http://www.agweb.com...r_some_insects/


----------



## fredro (May 12, 2012)

had that one time in the early 70's bad news grain soybeans eat up up if u get in them


----------



## gradyjohn (Jul 17, 2012)

How can you not run over the crop when cutting. Seems to me you need a sickle swather/windrower without conditioning rollers. Why would dry time be different for soybeans without conditioning?

A friend of mine that raises alfalfa says to spray for the beetles when you see the grasshoppers. There seem to be a relationship somewhere.


----------



## rjmoses (Apr 4, 2010)

gradyjohn said:


> A friend of mine that raises alfalfa says to spray for the beetles when you see the grasshoppers. There seem to be a relationship somewhere.


That's good advice. Blister beetles larvae feed on grasshopper eggs. So when you see grasshoppers in your field, they're feeding on the green stuff (alfalfa, beans, etc.) and getting ready to lay eggs. Blister beetles are looking for the egg sacs that their young can feed on. Every living thing is both a predator and a prey critter.

Ralph


----------



## rjmoses (Apr 4, 2010)

Talking with our vet yesterday, I asked him about his experience blister beetles in the St, Louis area. Interestingly enough, he trained in Texas and was asked to research the beetles.

He was telling me the best defense against them is to a low cut buffer area around your alfalfa. It seems the little darlings don't like to go from high to low to high plants and that a low cut buffer strip around your filed will keep them from entering.

Ralph


----------



## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

I wish I could get some tips for leafhoppers as that is what plagues me here....I spray for them(with cudos to haybaler 101), but if I am a little late cutting, the little devils will remind me of their presence.

Regards, Mike


----------



## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

Last alfalfa I planted was leafhopper resistant. Very happy with it and most certainly will be planting more of it.


----------



## rjmoses (Apr 4, 2010)

mlappin said:


> Last alfalfa I planted was leafhopper resistant. Very happy with it and most certainly will be planting more of it.


Me, too. Had just a few on the edge of the LH resistant field.

Ralph


----------



## hay wilson in TX (Jan 28, 2009)

For Leaf Hoppers this is probably the current best variety out there.

*WL 353LH (Potato Leafhopper Resistant!) (NEW!)*
FD=4.0 WH=1.7 (Click here for PDF tech sheet)
New 7th Generation potato leafhopper resistance-first to market!
WL 353LH displays 85% resistance to the leafhopper
Dramatic improvements in agronomic performance (forage yield, feed quality) under severe leafhopper pressure
Very well-adapted to 3-, 4-, and 5-cut harvest managements
No-spray, anytime, anywhere!
At one time I was on a tor that also tooking a WL breeding farm and they really were working on hopper resistence.

HERE the hopper is a maybe one time every 20 or so years problem.

==============================================================

Back on topic, blister beetles. I assume the keeping the foliage cut short next to the field is a case of coincidence taken as a cause and effect thing. Still it is worth while, just in case.

HERE the striped blister beetle, the one with the most poison, come out of the ground in Mid June. By then the March-April cutting & May cutting are in the barn. Starting in June I switch to a simple disk mower to avoid inadvertant contimination from conditioning the beetles.
The striped beetles like to feast, rest, and. procreate in large crowds. Aggregations. You can hide the whole bunch under a parked pickup truck.
They are very visible. They are easy to see well in advance of getting in the area they are in.
The black and gray can come out earlier but they are a lot less deadly and almost solitary. For these it requires the poison from >200 beetles for a lethal dose. Thing about a horse is it will die from colic before taking in a lethal dose of bug poison.
If you bale at night, then you can find thousands of beetles inside a single bale. The beetles overnight IN the windrow.
The truth is the dairy Cattle and Goat people have a bigger problem with blister beetles, they just do not make as big a deal out of contaminated hay. They are farmers also and understand nature and biology more. Besides the cows and goats do not colic on you.
What I do when I see an aggregation of beetles is just pick up the mower as I reach the bunch and leave them there to their interest. I would do this with the conditioning mower but so far I have only seen them when using a simple mower.
A word. Any location that has both flowering plants and grass hoppers will have some kind of blister beetle. Irregardlessly !

Anyone who insist where they are does not have them is in Greenland or misinformed. (A Liar ? )


----------



## slowzuki (Mar 8, 2011)

I almost said we don't have them but I looked around and we are in the range for black blister beetles. I've never seen one, and we only rarely get grasshoppers here. Lots of crickets and softwood boring beetles of various species though. I'll keep looking for these blister guys though.


----------



## hay wilson in TX (Jan 28, 2009)

With almost no grasshoppers almost qualifies for no blister beetles. The beetle spends it's off time eating grasshopper eggs.

HERE we have Truckers that report their hay comes from a hidden valley in Wyoming or Colorado where there are guaranteed no blister beetles. Therefore some nervous hay buyers want alfalfa hay with a guarantee of no blister beetles. Depending on how tiered I am as to how curt my response is. 
We also have some Vets who will swear in court that a horse that is run over by a truck on the interstate died from blister beetle poisoning. _A little poetic exaggeration there_.


----------

