Organic/Biological Control:
The spined soldier bug, Podisus maculiventris, and the two-spotted stinkbug, Perillus bioculatus , prey upon CPB eggs and larvae. Some beetles, specifically the ladybird beetle, Coleomegilla maculata, and carabid beetles in the genus Lebia also prey on the eggs, and there are tachinid fly parasites in some regions.
Soilborne fungal pathogens such as Beauveria bassiana may cause high mortality of pupae and overwintering adults. None of these organisms, however, is capable of making an economic impact on large populations.
The Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI) certifies formulations of insecticides. OMRI-certified insecticides containing Bacillus thuringiensis San Diego, neem (azadirachtin), or cryolite are effective if applications are timed to coincide with peak egg hatch and small-larvae activity.
The OMRI-certified formulation of spinosad, Entrust® (Dow AgroSciences LLC), is effective against both larvae and adults.
Cultural Control:
Because the CPB feeds exclusively on solanaceous crops and disperses by walking when temperatures are cool, rotation to a nonsolanaceous crop is one of the most effective cultural control measures a producer can take.
This is especially true in eastern Virginia, where the beetles often overwinter in the same fields in which they developed. Plastic-lined trenches along the side of a potato field where overwintering adults will enter are effective early in the season.
Trenches should be at least 12 inches deep, with the sides having a slope of at least 46 degrees. A video explaining this and other alternative CPB control techniques in more detail is available from Cornell Cooperative Extension.
A feasible option for small potato fields is spreading a thick layer of straw mulch after planting to create a favorable environment for the potatoes and an effective barrier to adult beetles. Mechanical control methods such as flaming also have been developed.
Chemical Control and Resistance Management:
The CPB’s high reproductive capacity and its feeding exclusively on a few closely related genera of plants makes resistance to insecticides a problem. Growers should rotate to nonsolanaceous crops and avoid repeated applications of insecticides in the same chemical class with the same mode of action.
Growers should consult their Extension service and current commercial insecticide recommendations because the recommendations change over time. Currently recommended materials include the neonicotinoids imidacloprid and thiamethoxam, of which there are various formulations that may be applied in the soil at planting, as potato-seed-piece treatments, or as foliar sprays.
These materials may be applied as drenches to flats of tomato and eggplant transplants, and this technique provides effective protection for small transplants. Other effective materials include foliar sprays of spinosad, abamectin, and the materials listed under organic control.
Older materials such as the organophosphates phosmet, phorate, and methamidophos; the organochlorine endosulfan; and numerous pyrethroids (esfenvalerate, permethrin, bifenthrin, cyfluthrin, lambda-cyhalothrin, etc.) may still provide effective control in regions where resistance is not a major problem.
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