THE STRANGE-LOOKING BEETLE

(Beetle, Caterpillar, Length Approx. 5 mm )

February 11, 2023

My banana pepper plants got better within weeks after being infested with leaf curlers. The plants are bearing fruits. “Can the plants be re-infested with the bad insects again?” I potted a few young plants that developed from germinating the seeds removed from the banana pepper fruits. All plants were growing well.

Several days later, I noticed that some plant tops looked damaged—some young leaves had been eaten, and some leaves had holes. The damaged plants needed a thorough check! I did not see the curlers. The attacks were seen on some matured plants too.

The attacks had gone unnoticed. It looked as if the attacker had chosen the young leaves of the banana pepper plants. “Why the young leaves are attacked? Do the leaf curlers have any enemies? Has anyone tried to protect my plants from leaf curlers?”

There was one tiny white hairy caterpillar on a matured damaged leaf. The caterpillar was eating the leaf. Also, I found that a wild plant had similar damage, but none of the banana pepper plants close to the wild plant have been damaged. While I was searching for the attacker, I found an insect—a beetle. It’s a strange-looking brown beetle on the wild plant. Is this beetle damaged the pepper plants’ young leaves? A beetle—see “The tiny beetle” can also make a few holes in a leaf.

The feeding patterns on banana pepper leaves looked very similar to that of the beetles. However, I have not seen any beetle on the banana pepper plants.

The images were captured as it was found happening in nature, and not enhanced using software. Images may be subject to copyright.