Growing Cape Gooseberry, also Golden Berry, Inca Berry

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22 Sep 14 Suzanne (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
I have a lovely bush growing with lots of big fruit, but there are lots of oval shaped pale yellow beetles with black stripes which congregate on the bush and lay clusters of tiny yellow eggs on the undersides of leaves. These then apparently develop very quickly into fat squishy larvae which just demolish the leaves. Can anyone identify the beetle and advise how I can beat them other than by pulling them off every day and stomping on them?
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02 Aug 15 Terry (Australia - temperate climate)
Try throwing wood ash over the plant - it works for pear slug - so may work for these bugs too.
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24 Oct 14 Robin (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
The beetle is the striped cucumber beetle, Acalymma vittata, - kill any beetles, eggs, larvae as soon as possible - I sprayed my plants with pyrethrum to good effect but you still need to be very vigilant as numbers build up very quickly if you do not look every day - good luck!
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This planting guide is a general reference intended for home gardeners. We recommend that you take into account your local conditions in making planting decisions. GardenGrow is not a farming or commercial advisory service. For specific advice, please contact your local plant suppliers, gardening groups, or agricultural department. The information on this site is presented in good faith, but we take no responsibility as to the accuracy of the information provided.
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