Question
Hello, Last year we had a blister beetle infestation in our tomato garden. I am wondering if it is likely that they will return this summer? I read that they spend a year as a grub, what do the grubs look like? Can I prevent them from coming back without using chemicals?
Thank you.

Answer
Roberta,

There's no good way to predict what might happen next year but unless last season's weather was very unusual you can probably assume that you'll see some beetle activity starting in early summer. The best way to stop any leaf-feeding insect without chemical insecticides is to use row covers over the growing plants. See http://www.livingwithbugs.com/row_cov.html if you are not familiar with using row covers. A good organic insecticide would be neem oil, again for any leaf-feeding insect (see http://www.livingwithbugs.com/neem_oil.html for information about neem oil). Good luck with your garden.

Jack DeAngelis
http://www.livingwithbugs.com/index.html