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Colorado potato beetle
The Colorado potato beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata; also known as the Colorado beetle, the ten-striped spearman, the ten-lined potato beetle, and the potato bug) is a beetle known for being a major pest of potato crops. It is about 10 mm (3⁄8 in) long, with a bright yellow/orange body and five bold brown stripes along the length of each of its wings. Native to the Rocky Mountains, it spread rapidly in potato crops across the United States and then Europe from 1859 onwards.
The Colorado potato beetle was first observed in 1811 by Thomas Nuttall and was formally described in 1824 by American entomologist Thomas Say. The beetles were collected in the Rocky Mountains, where they were feeding on the buffalo bur, Solanum rostratum.
Adult beetles typically are 6–11 mm (0.24–0.43 in) in length and 3 mm (0.12 in) in width. They weigh 50–170 mg. The beetles are orange-yellow in color with 10 characteristic black stripes on their front wings or elytra. The specific name decemlineata, meaning "ten-lined", derives from this feature.
Adult beetles may be visually confused with L. juncta, which is the false potato beetle. Unlike the Colorado potato beetle, it is not an agricultural pest. L. juncta also has alternating black and white strips on its back, but one of the white strips in the center of each wing cover is missing and replaced by a light brown strip.
The orange-pink larvae have a large, 9-segmented abdomen, black head, and prominent spiracles, and may measure up to 15 mm (0.59 in) in length in their final instar stage.
The beetle larva has four instar stages. The head remains black throughout these stages, but the pronotum changes color from black in first- and second-instar larvae to having an orange-brown edge in its third-instar. In fourth-instar larvae, about half the pronotum is colored light brown. This tribe is characterized within the subfamily by round to oval-shaped convex bodies, which are usually brightly colored, simple claws which separate at the base, open cavities behind the procoxae, and a variable apical segment of the maxillary palp.
The beetle is most likely native to the area between Colorado and northern Mexico and was discovered in 1824 by Thomas Say in the Rocky Mountains. It is found in North America and is present in every state and province except Alaska, California, Hawaii and Nevada. It now has a wide distribution across Europe and Asia, totaling more than 16 million km2.
Its first association with the potato plant (Solanum tuberosum) was not made until about 1859, when it began destroying potato crops in the region of Omaha, Nebraska. Its spread eastward was rapid, at an average distance of 140 km per year. The beetle has the potential to spread to temperate areas of East Asia, India, South America, Africa, New Zealand and Australia.
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Colorado potato beetle AI simulator
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Colorado potato beetle
The Colorado potato beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata; also known as the Colorado beetle, the ten-striped spearman, the ten-lined potato beetle, and the potato bug) is a beetle known for being a major pest of potato crops. It is about 10 mm (3⁄8 in) long, with a bright yellow/orange body and five bold brown stripes along the length of each of its wings. Native to the Rocky Mountains, it spread rapidly in potato crops across the United States and then Europe from 1859 onwards.
The Colorado potato beetle was first observed in 1811 by Thomas Nuttall and was formally described in 1824 by American entomologist Thomas Say. The beetles were collected in the Rocky Mountains, where they were feeding on the buffalo bur, Solanum rostratum.
Adult beetles typically are 6–11 mm (0.24–0.43 in) in length and 3 mm (0.12 in) in width. They weigh 50–170 mg. The beetles are orange-yellow in color with 10 characteristic black stripes on their front wings or elytra. The specific name decemlineata, meaning "ten-lined", derives from this feature.
Adult beetles may be visually confused with L. juncta, which is the false potato beetle. Unlike the Colorado potato beetle, it is not an agricultural pest. L. juncta also has alternating black and white strips on its back, but one of the white strips in the center of each wing cover is missing and replaced by a light brown strip.
The orange-pink larvae have a large, 9-segmented abdomen, black head, and prominent spiracles, and may measure up to 15 mm (0.59 in) in length in their final instar stage.
The beetle larva has four instar stages. The head remains black throughout these stages, but the pronotum changes color from black in first- and second-instar larvae to having an orange-brown edge in its third-instar. In fourth-instar larvae, about half the pronotum is colored light brown. This tribe is characterized within the subfamily by round to oval-shaped convex bodies, which are usually brightly colored, simple claws which separate at the base, open cavities behind the procoxae, and a variable apical segment of the maxillary palp.
The beetle is most likely native to the area between Colorado and northern Mexico and was discovered in 1824 by Thomas Say in the Rocky Mountains. It is found in North America and is present in every state and province except Alaska, California, Hawaii and Nevada. It now has a wide distribution across Europe and Asia, totaling more than 16 million km2.
Its first association with the potato plant (Solanum tuberosum) was not made until about 1859, when it began destroying potato crops in the region of Omaha, Nebraska. Its spread eastward was rapid, at an average distance of 140 km per year. The beetle has the potential to spread to temperate areas of East Asia, India, South America, Africa, New Zealand and Australia.