Hi Mainedad,,,,Funny, I was just going to post the same question about the same nasty insect on my potato plants. I also live in Maine. I have noticed these before on my brugmansia leaves. I HATE THEM !! and I have no idea what they are,,but I need to know what will kill them, cuz my potato plants are looking gorgeous right now. Haven't noticed any on my tomatoes yet,,but I also didn't examine those yet,,I will do that now. I look forward to finding out what they are. Ctufts

Ctufts,

I hate them too. Someone mentioned that they could be Tortoise Beetles. I'm not so sure about that though.

I'm in New Gloucester - where are you?

Found it!

http://www.cirrusimage.com/beetles_tortoise.htm

Hi there,,,I am in Minot, just on the other side of Auburn. About 10 minutes or so from you.

Okay,,I went and looked at the site you provided,,Now what do we do about them??? I haven't found anything that gives information on how to treat them. I don't think insectisidal soap will work...and I don't want to put chemicals in my garden. I guess I will have to hand pick them off. UUugh !!!
What are you doing to get rid of yours?? Let me know, Ctufts

So far I am just hand picking them off. They were all mating, so i could pick them off two at a time :)

I'll keep looking to see if there is a way to remove them organically. If you find a way please let me know.

I have some friends over in Minot. Nice town.

Micah

Okay,,I will let you know if I find a cure.

Have found these in my garden on my tomato plants in Windham, Maine - - not too far from where others have noticed them in Maine. Has anyone found an effective way to remove them from gardens since the last post in 2008? I have been picking them off one by one, but I have other things that I need to attend to. I just applied a Pyrethrum insecticide yesterday and will keep everyone abreast of its success or not.

No, but I have also noticed they are not much of a problem. They do chew small holes but there are not many of them most of the time to do a lot of damage. I am currently having a problem with cucumber beetles. They ruined much of my squash and cukes last year, and this year I see a few, but not as many. They are on my ground cherry plants. I actually had to break down and apply some sevin dust..(ugh, shuttering at the though)..but nothing else seems to work. I have tried Neem oil and that does not work well.

I am not so concerned about them consuming the plants as I am about them creating pathways for disease to ruin the plants and cause untimely death and crop
under production.