Colorado Potato Beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata
(Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)
The Colorado potato beetle is found in most of the United States though it is not often a major pest in Florida. It is a serious pest of potatoes and other solanaceous (tomato and its relatives) plants. The adult overwinters in the soil and emerges in the spring. They feed on newly sprouted host plants where they mate. Eggs are bright orange in color and football-shaped. Eggs are usually deposited in clusters on the underside of foliage. The larvae are reddish with black spots down the sides. The larvae will drop from the plants and burrow in the soil and form a yellow pupa. The adults are yellowish-orange with multiple black stripes down the back. There are usually one to three generations per year.
Potatoes are the preferred host of the Colorado potato beetle but it may also survive on eggplant, tomato, pepper, tobacco, ground cherry, nightshade, or thorn apple. The Colorado potato beetle may be managed culturally by crop rotation or destruction of crop debris. Insecticides are commonly used to control populations of Colorado potato beetle, but resistance to insecticides develops rapidly.
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