Where do Cucumber Beetles even come from?

[Ronaldo_]

I began voluneer work on a charity vegetable farm in the middle of nowhere in Ontario a few summers ago and each time the planting period begins we have to deal with these f**king annoying beetles that specifically target cucumber plants and seemingly nothing else. I never see them anywhere else either. The thing is though is that prior to the planting period there are no cucumber plants for kilometers. Where do these beatles come from? Do they just manifest out of thin air every time a cucumber plant begins growing? Do they have eggs everywhere that just lay dormant until a cucumber just by pure chance happens to show up?

I feel like I'm going f**king crazy.

 

[melted welly]

They’ll persist in host plants/weeds in the locality

 

[Will Blackburn]

I began voluneer work on a charity vegetable farm in the middle of nowhere in Ontario a few summers ago and each time the planting period begins we have to deal with these f**king annoying beetles that specifically target cucumber plants and seemingly nothing else. I never see them anywhere else either. The thing is though is that prior to the planting period there are no cucumber plants for kilometers. Where do these beatles come from? Do they just manifest out of thin air every time a cucumber plant begins growing? Do they have eggs everywhere that just lay dormant until a cucumber just by pure chance happens to show up?

I feel like I'm going f**king crazy.

Bit like growing canola in the UK.

 

[Bogweevil]

I began voluneer work on a charity vegetable farm in the middle of nowhere in Ontario a few summers ago and each time the planting period begins we have to deal with these f**king annoying beetles that specifically target cucumber plants and seemingly nothing else. I never see them anywhere else either. The thing is though is that prior to the planting period there are no cucumber plants for kilometers. Where do these beatles come from? Do they just manifest out of thin air every time a cucumber plant begins growing? Do they have eggs everywhere that just lay dormant until a cucumber just by pure chance happens to show up?

I feel like I'm going f**king crazy.

They have alternative wild host plants and the fecundity for small populations to surge when provided with a field of tasty cucurbits.

Unknown in UK thankfully.