( Diabrotica undecimpunctata )
PHOTO COMMENT
(Mannerheim ,1843 )
LOCATION DETAILS
RECOGNITION
BIOLOGY
CREDITS
Eddie Dunbar
Insect Sciences Museum of California
References
| Western Spotted Cucumber Beetle ( Diabrotica undecimpunctata ) | |
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PHOTO COMMENT | |
| IDENTIFICATION | |
| Identification: | Diabrotica undecimpunctata (Mannerheim ,1843 ) |
| Common Name: | Western Spotted Cucumber Beetle |
| Life Stage: | (A) adult |
| PHYLOGENY | |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Superorder: | Holometabola |
| Order: | Coleoptera |
| Suborder: | Polyphaga |
| Family: | Chrysomelidae |
| Subfamily: | Galerucinae |
| Tribe: | Luperini |
| Genus: | Diabrotica |
| Taxon Code: | COL00323 |
| ITIS/TSN: | 720266 |
LOCATION DETAILS | |
| Location Name | |
| Gardens at Lake Merritt, Lakeside Park, 666 Bellevue, Oakland | |
| County: | Alameda County |
| ECI Site#: | CA01100110 |
RECOGNITION | |
| Description | |
| These insects are widely mistaken for lady beetles, but are only distantly related. Adult: Elytra and thorax are pale green. Elytra with 11 black spots. Head, antennae and legs are all black. | |
| Body Length | |
| Adult: 5-9 mm. Larva: Up to 8 mm. | |
BIOLOGY | |
| Food | |
| Adults prefer tender, succulent portions of plants, including the flowers and leaves, which they may destroy with their feeding, it is the damage to the surface of the melon that reduces marketable yield. | |
| Importance | |
| Adults feed upon and damage the leaves and fruits of many crops, including cucumbers, soybeans, cotton, beans, and many others. Cucumber beetles also spread squash mosaic virus. | |
| Range | |
| Widely distributed across America north of Mexico, except north in the northern Rocky Mountains. | |
| Development | |
| Eggs are laid at soil surface or below at the base of food plants. Larvae hatch in 7-10 days and begin to feed on plant roots right away and continue for 3-6 weeks. Pupation occurs at the base of host plants. Adults eclose in 1-2 weeks. There are about three generations a year. Beetles overwinter as adults and are active by the time the earliest melons are planted in spring. | |
CREDITS | |
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Photographer Eddie Dunbar Insect Sciences Museum of California | |
References | |
| Species Diabrotica undecimpunctata - Spotted Cucumber Beetle. (bugguide.net/node/view/456). Accessed July 9, 2016. . | |
| ITIS. | |
| Spotted cucumber beetle. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spotted_cucumber_beetle). Accessed September 24, 2016. | |
