Colorado potato beetle
- Also called:
- potato bug
Colorado potato beetle, (Leptinotarsa decemlineata), species of leaf beetle that is an economically important pest of potato plants. It is native to western North America and originally fed on buffalo bur, a wild plant of the potato family abundant in the Rocky Mountain region. It began feeding on cultivated potatoes when they were introduced into western North America. By 1874 the beetle had become an important potato pest, spreading wherever potatoes were cultivated.
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Arthropoda
- Class: Insecta
- Order: Coleoptera
- Family: Chrysomelidae
- Subfamily: Chrysomelinae
- Genus: Leptinotarsa
See also list of beetles.
The Colorado potato beetle is hemispherical in shape, about 10 mm (0.4 inch) long, and orange-red or yellow in color, with black stripes on its wing covers (elytra). The female deposits between about 300 and 500 eggs on the underside of potato leaves. The red, plump, leaf-feeding larvae pupate underground and are usually not seen until they emerge as adults. Depending on the latitude, from one to three generations may occur each year.
