We have a big announcement for our Air Potato Patrol members-
We are having another contest!
Last year we held a contest for the best Air Potato Beetle at Work photo, but this time we want to try something a little different. This time we are looking for the best Air Potato Patrol Citizen Science Success Story. You can submit a picture (or multiple pictures) and an up to 100 word story about how the program has benefitted you, youth you worked with or your property or you can get really creative and submit a video documenting your success story. We are flexible on the exact format- just be creative and think outside of the box!
To submit an entry:
If it is a written story, just post it as a comment on this blog post thread. You can attach a photo to your comment, but to attach more than one you would have to comment more than once (which is fine).
If you want to submit a video, you would need to upload it to a Dropbox folder located here:
https://www.dropbox.com/request/xqIQeKpZiHJQeRhmQY9u
You don’t have to have Dropbox to upload your video file and if you have any questions or concerns please contact me at wlester@ufl.edu . Please be sure to include your contact information with any files.
We will be accepting entries from today until October 11, 2018. Our judges will make their decision and winners will be announced and contacted on October 12, 2018!
Prizes:
Every contest needs prizes!
First, second and third place winners will receive an official Air Potato Patrol t-shirt! This limited edition custom designed shirt is in the process of being created and will be printed in whatever size the winner requests. The fourth place winner will receive a laminated air potato beetle poster and everyone who enters will receive an air potato beetle temporary tattoo!!
As always, if you have any questions about how to enter the contest or how to submit your entry, just contact us at airpotatopatrol@gmail.com.
Doing beautiful work…
Dinner for two…
I honestly don’t get it. I have lots of “damage” by my beetles, with many leaves still untouched. And yet I find only 3 beetles during my 15-minute count. I’m afraid that my impacted area will continue to sprout more and more vines, since many that I do see still have the “potatoes” hanging on them. I really don’t understand why my beetles wander off when they have so much food right at their wingtips. Why, I’ve even found their damage on some other small vine growths several hundred yards away from where I’ve released them. I’m thankful for their foraging, but I wish they’d concentrate their efforts first.
Thank you for sending the video about the air potato beetle. I have shared it with my Facebook friends as well as those who are in these FB groups: Florida Gardening Friends and Florida Native Plants. I will also pass it along to fellow Master Gardeners, hopefully at the SE Regional Conference this month.
You are very welcome and thanks for spreading the word. I will be in New Orleans next week presenting on the Air Potato Patrol at the Alliance of Natural Resource Service and Outreach Programs national conference. I should have video to post from that.
Love the beautiful lace work of my beetles!
We have had a tremendous amount of success this year with the beetles. They have done a terrific job this year with the potato vines around our property. Thank you for all of your hard work and effort in producing the beetles, and sending them to us to help with trying to minimize the destruction of the potato vines. Also would like to thank you for all of your email updates, you guys are the best.
I did a Beetle count a few days ago and was disappointed to only count three beetles. The amount of vine leaf damage was vastly greater than three belts could have done. I have vines in several locations approximately 660 feet apart. I could use more beetles because the amount of vines is increasing each season.
The easement behind our home has a blanket of potato vines. Years ago, my husband and I collected bushels of potatoes, and I assumed we pretty much took care of the problem. Wrong! They returned with a vengeance. Since the beetles arrived, we aren’t seeing much vining on the live oaks, so that’s great. I’m also seeing lots of chewing going on, although the beetles seem to have gotten off to a slow start. Largo Central Park has chewed leaves as well. ???