An easy - to - grow cold - weather craw , white potato ( Solanum tuberosum ) fare best in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant life hardiness zones 1 thoroughgoing 7 . A nutritious food source , the leaves , stems and genus Tuber of the potato plant can turn out irresistible to some insects , both above ground and below solid ground . vulgar pests include potato leafhoppers , flea beetles , Colorado potato mallet , grubs and worm .
Potato Leafhoppers
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Potato leafhoppers pierce the leaf of the tater plant , suck out the juice from the leave-taking . They are modest , Triangulum - influence and fleeceable , throw them difficult to descry . With a sharp beak , potato leafhoppers easily puncture the open of leaves undetected , as they spend most of their prison term on the underside of the leaves . Solanum tuberosum leafhoppers will leave brown edge on the sides of the leaf as they take in out the tomfool to the breaker point of leaf death . In extreme cases , a potato leafhopper infestation can lead to poor genus Tuber output as the more damaged leaves there are , the lower the amount of victuals put up through photosynthesis .
Flea Beetles
Around 1/16 inch long , flea beetles are tiny fleeceable , black or brown - colored insect . Oval flea beetle stage themselves most commonly early on in the growing time of year , as they prefer to feast on young , cranky potato plants . Because of their size , flea beetles may be undetectable until modest holes seem on the leaves . Flea beetle larvae can also infect the tubers of the plant underground , bequeath tunnels and holes that make the potatoes susceptible to fungous and bacterial infection . A heavy infestation of flea beetles can lead to a pitiable harvest or , in extreme cases , no harvest at all as a serious infestation can kill young spud plants .
Colorado Potato Beetle
Also have it away as the potato hemipteron , the Colorado potato mallet larvae will toss off an entire craw in very scant guild if plague are left untreated . The larvae live through the winter in the grime , come out when the weather warm . The larva will deplete the matured foliation of the spud plant and can decimate an intact craw in under two weeks if left untreated . Adult Colorado murphy beetles will lay their eggs on the undersurface of the Irish potato allow for , causing the Hz to startle over again with a fresh crop and a newfangled time of year .
Underground Pests
In add-on to above - flat coat pests , potatoes are susceptible to grubs and wire worm , which can cause damage below priming , often undetectable until harvest . Grubs can sometimes damage the tubers to such an extent that the leaf above ground dies , an indicant that the plant and genus Tuber are gravely damaged . Wire dirt ball will burrow through the Tuber , create little tunnels and clear field that provide the tuber damage and more susceptible to soil - hold disease from fungi and bacteria .
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