A couple of weeks back we had around 15 inches of rain in 2 weeks. It has been dry since. After about a week of rain, sour beetles showed up. They have taken up residence in my trees. I've never seen so many. I thought that since the rains are gone and we are bone dry that maybe the beetles would disappear and I would get some ripe figs that weren't sour. Well it's been bone dry for almost 2 weeks and still the beetles are as plentiful as ever if not more plentiful. This morning as I made my round looking for a ripe fig for breakfast I noticed that the beetles weren't only on the ripe and souring figs but they were clustered around the eyes of the figs that were just starting to lighten and swell. They were lined up around those eyes like hogs at the feed trough. They were waiting for the fig to swell just enough to open the eye a little so they could get in. The figs I was looking at closely are my Cajun Gold. It has a tight eye and no hollow core. As the fig ripens the eye is stretch just a little to allow one or two bugs in the eye. They start the process and as the figs sour near the eye more of them can get in. I had had enough. I went to war. I mixed some Spinosad and some Permethrin according to directions for 1 gallon of water. I put both in my 1 gallon pump sprayer. I sprayed the tree around 9 AM this morning soaking them well and trying to hit all the bugs with a mist. At 5 PM I was near the trees and walked over to check them out. There wasn't a bug to be seen. Not even one. I don't know if they will stay away but hopefully they will and I'll be able to salvage the rest of my season. I use both Spinosad and Permethrin because of they are considered natural controls and are not toxic to mammals under ordinary conditions. I have never seen or heard anyone here mention spraying for the beetles but I wonder if anyone else has tried it. I can't wait to see if they are still gone in the morning.
"gene"

This sounds like a nightmare!  I'll probably dream about these evil beetles, and I never heard of them here in the extreme west USA. 

Could you spray them with soap?  Most bugs hate soap.  Oh, and add some peroxide.  That will surely kill them, but not you!  Also side benefit:  Eating figs coated with peroxide and soap will surely make your smile brighter!

Suzi

Nice thoughts Suzi. Thanks for the laugh.
"gene''

Suzi, mine isn't very bright but you definitely got a smile out of me!

Yes I also had the Bugs here in NJ,on my open eye cultivars,I used to have like Brunswick.
For about 2 year past,I did not found them in any of my ripe figs.
One will know if they are present when you brake the fruit in half,(ripe fruit).
They are in there very small black round beetles.
Of course that might be because I discarded any cultivar that I found with beetles inside,especially the cultivars with large open eye and inside large  empty cavities.
No reason to keep them when there are other safer alternative.

Did they come back?  Spinosad is pretty safe but once it dries it has no effect but to build up in plant tissue and get inside you.  So I'd spray the bugs then as soon as they're gone wash it off.  Lather, rinse, repeat.

I just made a check of my trees and found no sign of the beetles or any olther bug. Before I used it I did some online research and found that Spinosad is considered organic and that "foliar applications of spinosad are not highly systemic in plants". So if what I read is only half true, I'm probably in more danger while eating the processed food in our daily diet.

Herman I've already decided to remove two trees that fit into the catagory of open eyes. One is the Conadria and the other is LSU Tiger. I don't have enough space to isolate these so out they go. The Tiger is the better of the two and I've tasted some good figs off of it, but I will not let it be host to these bugs that spread to my other trees.

"gene"

Hi Gene--I thought I'd revive this old thread to ask what results you've had battling beetles in the years since you first posted this. Is your chemical cocktail still working? Any negative effects?