Colorado potato beetle

Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Say)

(Insecta: Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)

Adult Colorado potato beetles are oval, about 10 mm long, and yellowish-orange with five longitudinal black stripes on each elytron. Larvae grow to be 12 mm long, are reddish brown with a row of black spots along each side, and appear very plump with a strongly humped abdomen.

In the spring, overwintering adults feed on leaves of their host before mating. Females lay eggs on the underside of the leaves. Upon hatching, the larvae undergo four instars. The fourth instar burrows into the ground to pupate. The life cycle can be completed within 30 days, and one to three generations are produced per year.

Colorado potato beetles are native to Mexico and were reported first in Florida in 1920.

This beetle prefers feeding on leaves of potato plants, but also will feed on other members of the family Solanaceae.

Images 

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Adult Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Say)

(Photographer: Whitney Cranshaw, Colorado State University, Bugwood.org, with permission 2013-06-07)

Adult Colorado potato beetles, Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Say), feeding on foliage

(Photographer: David Cappaert, Michigan State University, Bugwood.org, with permission 2013-06-08)

Larvae of the Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Say), feeding on foliage

(Photographer: Lyle Buss, University of Florida)

Damage caused by Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Say)

(Photographer: Lyle Buss, University of Florida)