[prakash_mib]

my brassicas are under a bit of attack. these are some black coloured beetle like thingys very tiny and munching the leaves. and they fly away if you try to catch them. what are they?
http://s838.photobucket.com/albums/zz310/prakash_mib/Allotment_2010/?action=view&current=CIMG0071.jpg
in the pic you can see the black thingy at the bottom of the leaf which has a C shape etching

[peapod]

Could be cabbage root fly....if you arent organic you can use a pesticide.

Id recommend you net them as well, as there is no shortage of pests to eat your brassicas!

[prakash_mib]

flea beetle!

[peapod]

Dont stamp on them 

[compostqueen]

Get some Enviromesh over them     

[kingdhesiii]

Get some Enviromesh over them     

They will still find a way in. !!

[mumofstig]

i'm not sure how they do it, do they come up from the soil?, but I grow under mesh and still get them every year.............a good soaking from hose or heavy rain, usually gets rid of most of them, and the plants grow through the attack

[stompy]

They decimated my turnip seedlings last year nothing i did stopped them.
The leaves looked like lace.
I was told to use deris spray on them, but that didn't work either.
I think once you get a build up it's very difficult to get rid of them other than wishing for a weeks worth of rain as they seem to dissapear then.

[Salmo]

It sound like flea beetle. Tiny and shiny black and if you creep up on them they jump off the plants. Derris did control them but it is now a banned substance!!! There again so did DDT, organo phosphates and nicotine. How did we survive?

They will keep nibbling away while the weather is hot and dry. If the weather stays dry they can kill the plants, especially tiny seedlings. If it comes wet the plants usually grow waay from the damage. Ordinary enviromesh is no protection and I doubt if the fine is either as they will crawl under. My observation is that the betles quite like it under the net as they are protected from the wind

Try keeping them watered.

Provado Ultimate Bug Killer should give protection as it is systemic. It is not approved for use after the 8 true leaf stage and needs 14 days between application and harvest.

[prakash_mib]

I am certainly against pesticides (I would go for supermarket stuffs for that  ) shall I try a greasy paper to catch them? idea is something like this.
get a greasy paper. stick it to the racquet (squash/badminton/tennis) and move over the plants like the metal detectors? shall I try that idea?

[oldcow]

Here's an excellent article about organic control of flea beetle:
http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/fleabeetle.html