Flea Beetle
Pinhead-sized black or bronze beetles that spring away like fleas when disturbed, leaving leaves peppered with round "shot-holes". Seedlings of eggplant, brassicas, and radishes take the worst of it in spring.
Pest checklist
Four things to look for. If most of them match what you are holding, you are in the right place.
What gets rid of them
Gentlest option first. For most backyard cases the first one is enough, so try these in order and stop as soon as it works. If you do spray something, the product label tells you how — please read the notice further down.
1Row cover at seeding
The whole game is protecting seedlings; established plants outgrow the damage.
floating row cover gardenTry this first2Trap crop of radishes
A sacrificial radish row sown early draws the beetles off your eggplants.
3Sticky traps along the row
White or yellow cards catch springing adults and measure the pressure.
yellow sticky traps garden
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Which plants get flea beetle
Every plant we cover that gets flea beetle, grouped by type — tap any one to open its page. A note beside a plant came from that plant’s own entry, because the same pest can be a minor nuisance on one plant and a serious problem on another. Plenty of plants we do not cover get it too.
perennials3
annuals23
ArugulaEruca vesicariathe arugula tax
AshwagandhaWithania somniferanightshade tax
BeetBeta vulgaris
Bok ChoyBrassica rapa subsp. chinensis
BroccoliBrassica oleracea var. italica
CauliflowerBrassica oleracea var. botrytis
EggplantSolanum melongenadevastating on seedlings
Flowering TobaccoNicotiana alata & sylvestris
Ground CherryPhysalis pruinosa
KaleBrassica oleracea
KohlrabiBrassica oleracea var. gongylodes
MizunaBrassica rapa var. niposinicathe tax
Mustard GreensBrassica junceathe tax
Napa Cabbage (Chinese Cabbage)Brassica rapa subsp. pekinensis
PepperCapsicum annuum
PotatoSolanum tuberosum
RadishRaphanus sativusshotgun leaf holes
Stock (Gillyflower)Matthiola incana
TatsoiBrassica rapa subsp. narinosa
Tillage Radish (Daikon Cover Crop)Raphanus sativus var. longipinnatus
TomatilloPhysalis philadelphica
TomatoSolanum lycopersicum
TurnipBrassica rapa subsp. rapa
Plant families hit hardest
Related plants often share the same problems, so if one plant in a family has it, check the others. The largest group here is Brassicaceae, with 18 of the 28 affected plants.
- Brassicaceae18 plants
- Solanaceae8 plants
When to treat
Protect seedlings from the day they germinate. Mature plants shrug the damage off, so the window is early.
On specific plants
- Growing
- Row cover young plants for flea beetles.
- Growing
- Row cover from day one — flea beetles adore it.
- Growing
- Row cover until flowering is the flea-beetle answer; plant late when soil is truly warm.
- Growing
- Row cover for flea beetle.
Napa Cabbage (Chinese Cabbage)
- Growing
- Row cover from transplant for flea beetles/worms.
- Growing
- Row cover for flea beetle.
- Growing
- Row cover for flea beetle.
Timing only — the label is the law
This page tells you when to watch for flea beetle and when treating is worth considering. It is not a recommendation to apply any particular product. Read and follow the product label before you spray — under federal law the label is the legal instruction, and using a pesticide against it is illegal.
- Check the pre-harvest interval. Every product that’s cleared for an edible crop sets a minimum number of days between spraying and picking. Find it on the label before you spray anything you intend to eat.
- Check the re-entry interval before you or anyone else works in the treated area again, and use the protective equipment the label names.
- Confirm the product is registered for your crop in your state. This page groups many different crops together, and a product legal on one of them is not legal on all of them — state registrations differ too. Your state pesticide agency or local extension office can confirm both.
- Rates and mixing instructions come from the label, never from us. We don’t publish them because they differ by product and formulation.
Other problems on the same plants
If a plant gets flea beetle, these are the problems it most often gets as well, so they are worth checking for while you are out there. They tend to appear together; one does not cause another.