Colorado Potato Beetles Found On Irish Vegetables

The discovery of Colorado potato beetles on leafy vegetables imported into Northern Ireland has the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development on alert.

It has told local food importers, growers, gardeners, traders and consumers to be on the look out for the notifiable quarantine pest. A breeding colony of beetles could be established by a single female escaping detection.

The department said people traveling from Europe should check cars and arid luggage. Growers and gardeners should also check their crops for larvae.

The beetles are not established in the UK but during spring and summer they come into the country on imported goods such as leafy vegetalbes, herbs, potatoes, fruit, grain, seeds and timber.