Ich wott dosz ich en Bauer waert,
Im Dolpehocken Grick.
Wasz daeht ich Keffer schiesse geh,
Im siess-grumbiere schtick.
I wish I were a farmer
At the Tulpehocken Creek.
I’d go shoot bugs
In the sweet potato patch.
This cute little Pennsylvania Dutch folk song always made me chuckle. Why in the sweet potato patch? It was the Irish potatoes that always had a problem with the Colorado potato beetles.
But the first year we grew sweet potatoes for the produce auction, we noticed numerous little hollows in the mature tubers. The hollows were about the size of a pencil eraser.
Asking around, we found a grower who could tell us what we wanted to know.
“It’s wireworm damage,” he told us. “I know it doesn’t look like insect damage, but it happened when the tubers were small. Wireworms are the larval stage for click beetles,” he added.
Now that was interesting! I’d never thought about the larval stage of those fascinating creatures, also known as skipjacks or jackknife beetles.
To positively identify this narrow dull-brown beetle, you gently lay it on its back. With a powerful, audible “click” it propels itself into the air. Chances are you’ll need to do it a few more times so your family can enjoy the acrobatics.
And now, since we grow sweet potatoes near the Tulpehocken Creek, perhaps I’d better go check for beetles in my sweet potato patch.