Pollen beetle

Adult

The beetle is black with a green or blue metallic sheen. The antennae end in a club of three segments; the legs are short and blackish-brown.

Damage

• The beetles feed on the inner parts of buds and flowers, gnawing out the anthers, stamens, pistils and petals.
• The larvae gnaw out the inner parts of buds and flowers (the anthers), and also young pods.
• Damaged buds drop off, and when the damage is light, deformed pods form.

When to look

The pest is counted on plants from budding to flowering.

No rate and no spray timing here: both come from the label and the register.

Agronomy

Cultivate the soil during the pest's mass pupation.

Yield loss

The deformed pods that form when damage is light give a low seed yield.

Harvest quality

Seed from the deformed pods that form when damage is light is of low quality.

Every fact rests on a quote from its source, and each quote was checked against the page it is printed on.

1. Зайцева І. А., «Сільськогосподарська ентомологія. Курс лекцій», навчальний посібник, 237 с. · Дніпровський державний аграрно-економічний університет, Дніпро, 2021 · p. 157
2. EPPO Global Database · European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization
3. Прогноз фітосанітарного стану агроценозів України та рекомендації щодо захисту рослин у 2025 році · Держпродспоживслужба, НААН, НАН · p. 122
4. Photos: Line Sabroe from Denmark, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 · Paul Cook, iNaturalist, CC BY 4.0