Flea beetles on cabbage family
Brassica flea beetles are one of the primary reasons spring-planted kale, cabbage, and broccoli seedlings sometimes look terrible in May -- and one of the reasons fall-planted brassicas need a management plan before they go in the ground. The striped flea beetle and crucifer flea beetle are both.
Brassica flea beetles are one of the primary reasons spring-planted kale, cabbage, and broccoli seedlings sometimes look terrible in May — and one of the reasons fall-planted brassicas need a management plan before they go in the ground. The striped flea beetle and crucifer flea beetle are both common in the eastern US and feed almost exclusively on brassicas, meaning populations build wherever brassicas have grown previously.
I don't grow brassicas at my Long Island property, so this guide draws on Cornell Cooperative Extension, Penn State Extension, and Clemson HGIC research.
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The pests
Striped flea beetle (Phyllotreta striolata)
Per Cornell Cooperative Extension, the striped flea beetle is one of the most common flea beetles on brassicas in North America. Adults are 2mm, black with two curved yellow stripes on the wing covers.
Physical barrier beats spraying
Floating row cover blocks cucumber beetles, flea beetles, and cabbage moths before they can lay eggs. Lets in 70% of light so plants keep growing. Read our full pick.
Crucifer flea beetle (Phyllotreta cruciferae)
Per Penn State Extension, the crucifer flea beetle is uniformly metallic blue-black, 2mm. It is one of the most damaging flea beetle species on brassicas in the mid-Atlantic and northeast.
Both species are host-specific to the mustard family (Brassicaceae) and do not infest tomatoes, eggplant, or other vegetable families.