Treatment is suggested when levels reach an average of 0.5 nymphs per cluster. Sap Beetles Sap beetles are attracted to ripe, damaged, or cracked fruits. Any injury exposing plant sap that has a chance to ferment will attract sap beetles. Damage may appear as small holes in the bottom of the berry, or as large sections devoured from the side. Beetles may spread rot-causing disease organisms from berry to berry.
Sap beetles are mostly small black or dark insects that are flattened and broadly oval.
Most feed on plant sap that exudes from wounds on ripe and decaying fruit or fungi. The best management practice is sanitation. Keep fields as clean of ripe fruit as possible through timely removal of damaged, diseased, and overripe fruits. Sap beetle problems often occur after a rainy period during harvest, when there may be a buildup of overripe fruit. Sap beetle traps are sometimes used, but there is no convincing evidence of their effectiveness and they are not a replacement for proper sanitation.