March of the Potato Beetles
"The potato bugs eat all of the early potatoes, and then they sit on the fence waiting for the second crop to come in."
From London Wit, circa 1901.
From London Wit, circa 1901.
What became the Colorado Potato Beetle was first noted by a naturalist named Thomas Say in 1824 on a Solanaceous plant called buffalo bur, the beetle's food of choice until around the late 1850's. What changed is that the potato became a globally important food staple for humans. When the potato was carried by Europeans back to Europe, the ease of its cultivation on poor soils made it a perfect food for the masses, that is, once it caught on; it took a few centuries for Europeans to warm up to the strange tuber. It is thought that much of the increase in population in Europe during the 18th and 19th centuries can be directly attributed to the potato. Naturally, the potato came back across the Atlantic to North America to be grown in its vast agricultural lands.
As the importance of the tuber reached new heights, its cultivation in the form of monoculture (large areas planted with one crop) in the U.S. became the norm for large-scale production. When the Colorado potato beetle, which was actually from Mexico, met a potato plant, it liked what it tasted. And there were acres of potatoes planted far into the distance. Even though the beetles can only fly short distances, they could catch a ride in a shipment to the next county, state, or even across the ocean to Europe. The Colorado potato beetle was a problem throughout North America and Europe by the turn of the 20th century. Feeding on large areas devoted to potatoes, swarms of the beetles blanketed beaches and were piled so thick on railroad tracks that trains slipped and couldn't move. Children were deployed to skip school and pick the beetles off of the plants in the fields throughout the U.S. and Europe.
It was soon found that arsenic in Paris Green, which had been used as paint, killed the potato beetles. Chemical companies seized the opportunity of a new market and began developing stronger and stronger insecticides-- and the beetle developed resistance to every one of them. The Swiss government tested DDT for the first time on the Colorado potato beetle, with success that only lasted seven years until it developed a resistance to that as well. Humans were creating stronger and stronger insecticides, with no lasting effect on the potato beetle, and risking the long-term health of many other animals and humanity in the process.
The Colorado potato beetle existed before the large-scale cultivation of potatoes, but the pest that it became was created by humans. The beetle switched plants and its numbers swelled to plague proportions only when there was a food source so abundant-- commercially grown potatoes. Likewise, populations of humans swelled when potatoes became their new food source. Humans resorted to increasingly toxic means to eradicate competition for the same food. When considering this, we must ask ourselves, "Who is the real pest?".
The Colorado potato beetle existed before the large-scale cultivation of potatoes, but the pest that it became was created by humans. The beetle switched plants and its numbers swelled to plague proportions only when there was a food source so abundant-- commercially grown potatoes. Likewise, populations of humans swelled when potatoes became their new food source. Humans resorted to increasingly toxic means to eradicate competition for the same food. When considering this, we must ask ourselves, "Who is the real pest?".