Potato bugs can be difficult to define and identify, partially because the name ‘potato bug’ actually refers to different types of bugs, mainly Jerusalem Crickets and Colorado Potato Beetles, which differ in appearance, size, habitat, and diet. While Colorado Potato Beetles eat potato plants, Jerusalem Crickets don’t. For them, the name “potato bug” mainly refers to their shape and appearance. If you live in a part of the country where potato bugs are prevalent, it’s important to know how to identify them and keep them out of your home and garden.
Have you asked yourself, “What is a potato bug?” If so, you’re in the right place. In this article, I’ll aim to explain what a potato bug is, how to identify it, and how to keep these insect pests out of your home. Keep reading to learn all the ins and outs of potato bugs.
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What Are Potato Bugs?
Because the generic name ‘potato bug’ is used to refer to different types of critters, the first thing we’ll do is use different names for them.
Jerusalem Cricket
The Stenopelmatus fuscus or Jerusalem cricket is one potato bug. Although Jerusalem crickets are in the order Orthoptera, they aren’t true crickets. They’re in the family Stenopelmatidae and don’t chirp like a grasshopper.
Instead of chirping, they make a kind of hissing noise with their hind legs across their abdomen to warn off predators. Also, like grasshoppers, they make a song during mating season by bumping their bodies on the ground, producing a drumming sound to attract a mate.
Like the black widow spider, the females often eat their mates after they have finished mating. Then, they lay their eggs in shallow holes in the ground.
Despite the name, the Jerusalem cricket is not native to Jerusalem. They mainly live in the Southwestern United States, as well as western North America on the Pacific coast from British Columbia to parts of Mexico.
They’re nocturnal insects that spend much of their time underground. Their preference for dark places leads to them burrowing into piles of mulch and other organic material.
Colorado Potato Beetle
The Leptinotarsa decemlineata, the Colorado potato bug or Colorado potato beetle, is the other insect that goes by the name potato bug. They live in most of the United States, including Hawaii and Alaska, but aren’t normally found in California or Nevada. They also live in parts of Europe and Asia.
The Colorado potato beetle life cycle is to spend the winter underground, then emerge to lay eggs on the underside of leaves when spring arrives. They’ll generally appear around the same time potatoes start to emerge from the ground and grow tubers, hence the ‘potato bug’ name.
The female lays 20 to 30 bright orange, football-shaped eggs at a time, attaching them to the underside of leaves with a yellow adhesive excretion. The eggs are less than 2mm in length, and the female can lay many eggs, up to 700 to 900 of them in her short life span.
Are Potato Bugs Poisonous or Dangerous?
Neither type of potato bug is poisonous. However, the Jerusalem cricket can deliver a painful bite if you agitate them. They normally prefer to escape, but if backed into a corner, their large, strong jaws can bite extremely hard.
Colorado potato beetles, by contrast, are virtually harmless to humans. The main concern with them is the damage they can do to your potato crops if sufficient numbers of them hatch at once to create an infestation.
What Do Potato Bugs Look Like?
You don’t have to be an entomologist to identify these bugs, especially since Jerusalem crickets have been known to have a strangely alien appearance to them. They’re quite large, reaching up to 2 1/2 inches in size. Their head looks too large for their body, and they have strangely human-like heads with huge jaws.
Their thick, spiny legs are an amber-yellow color and are used to dig in the dirt. Their abdomens have alternating black and brown stripes with tiny ridges, while their hind legs look like cricket legs.
The Colorado potato beetle is much smaller, only about 3/8 of an inch in length, and looks much more like a traditional beetle with a round, oblong body and a small head. They have bold black stripes on their orange-tinted bodies.
Their heads have black, irregular-shaped spots on them with string-of-pearls antennae. They also have hard wings and can fly, which means there’s a possibility of a swarm invading your house.
Why Are They Called Potato Bugs?
Both the Colorado Potato Beetle and the Jerusalem Cricket are known to feed on plants, but Colorado beetles, in particular, feed on potato tubers. They gained the nickname “potato bug” because of their eating habits. However, Jerusalem Crickets don’t eat potatoes, at least not primarily, so the nickname is mostly due to the confusion between these two insects. They’re also often called pill bugs, rolie polies (or roly-poly bugs), and sow bugs.
What Are Potato Bugs Commonly Mistaken For?
Jerusalem crickets are often mistaken for grasshoppers or ordinary crickets. They’re in the order Orthoptera, so they have the same basic body shape as a grasshopper. Once you see the head and jaws, you’ll know they’re not a cricket.
Colorado potato beetles are easily confused with myriads of other beetles. Their body shape and coloration can be mistaken for some other beetle, and you won’t realize the threat to your crops until the damage has already started.
Jerusalem crickets are often mistaken for spiders due to their size and noticeable legs. However, upon closer inspection, you can easily tell it only has six legs instead of eight, the classic sign of an insect rather than an arachnid.
What Do Potato Bugs Eat?
Like all the other questions on this subject, it depends on which potato bug you’re talking about.
Despite often being erroneously called potato bugs, Jerusalem crickets aren’t major pests for potato plants. Instead, they normally feed on various types of meat from dead animals and insects, fruits, and tubers. Except in rare cases, they’re not a major pest in potato fields.
They prefer to consume a range of meats, little pests, fruits, and tubers. Since they lag their eggs in the ground, they will eat whatever is closest, whether it’s plant roots or dead insects.
Read More: How to Get Rid of Crickets in Your House
The same can’t be said for the Colorado potato beetle. They’re a major pest, laying their eggs on potato leaves, which then hatch and begin feeding on the potato plants and tubers. Since the female lays so many eggs at a time, they can multiply rapidly and become a serious threat to crops.
How Do You Get Rid Of Potato Bugs?
While other animals and insects eat potato bugs, the main method for exterminating potato bugs is by using pesticides or insecticides. However, not every homeowner will be comfortable using these themselves. Hiring a pest management company to spray for potato bugs can be helpful, especially because these bugs are not beneficial insects for your home or garden.
So, What Is a Potato Bug?
The name ‘potato bug’ refers to different types of bugs, mainly Jerusalem Crickets and Colorado Potato Beetles. Even though the name is an umbrella term, it’s still important to know the differences between these bugs so you can know how to protect your home. Colorado Potato Beetles can be especially pesky, specifically for crops. If you have a home garden, take special care to protect them from Colorado Potato Beetles.
If you are interested in hiring professionals to keep these potato bugs out of your home, use the form below to get price estimates on pest control services from local providers:
Frequently Asked Questions
Do potato bugs actually eat potatoes?
Both Colorado Potato Beetles and Jerusalem Crickets eat plants, but only Colorado Potato Beetles are notorious for eating potato plants and tubers.
Are potato bugs harmful to plants or gardens?
Colorado Potato Beetles can destroy crops because they eat plants, lay lots of eggs at once, and reproduce quickly. They have a reputation for eating potato plants, but they also eat other types of vegetation, so it’s best to keep them out of your garden, regardless of what plants you’re growing.
Do potato bugs bite humans?
Jerusalem Crickets can bite humans if agitated, but it’s not common. However, Colorado Potato Beetles are virtually harmless to humans. They’re more of a danger to your crops.
What natural predators do potato bugs have?
According to the University of Florida, Colorado Potato Beetles have several natural predators, including green lacewings, stink bugs, and the spined soldier bug.
