Colorado potato beetle
The Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata, is a beetle. It is sometimes just called the Colorado beetle. It is one of the worst potato pests in the world.
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| Species: | L. decemlineata
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| Leptinotarsa decemlineata | |
The beetle is notable for its ability to resist pesticides. Over the last 50 years it has become resistant to 52 chemical compounds used in insecticides, including cyanide.[2] However, not every population is resistant to every chemical.[3]
The Colorado beetle first lived in the southwest United States and northern Mexico. Now it lives in most of North America and also in Europe and Asia.
What it eats
The Colorado potato beetle now eats cultivated potato plants. Both larvae and adults eat the leaves and strip the plant down to a skeleton. They may also attack tomato and eggplants. There can be so many Colorado potato beetles in potato farms that they destroy the potatoes.
Defence
Because the beetle rapidly evolves resistance to chemicals, the best defence may be biological control. A ground beetle, Lebia grandis is a predator of the eggs and larvae, and its larvae are parasitoids of the Colorado beetle's pupae.
Beauveria bassiana (Hyphomycetes) is a pathogenic fungus that infects many insects, including the Colorado beetle. It is probably the most widely used natural enemy of the Colorado beetle. There are commercial formulations that can be applied using a pesticide sprayer.
Origins
The Colorado potato beetle did not always eat potato plants. This is because potatoes came from South America, not near the beetle's original range. Before people brought potatoes to North America, the Colorado beetle ate a plant called buffalo-bur.
Colorado Potato Beetle Media
Leptinotarsa decemlineata adult specimen
Coleomegilla maculata preying upon Colorado beetle eggs
Newsreels in which Dutch subjects of a certain week are presented.; The potato crops in the Netherlands are threatened by the Colorado potato beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata). This insect multiplies itself quickly and eats the potato leafs, which causes the potatoes under the ground to die off.
A Colorado beetle larva eating a leaf of a potato plant
East German Young Pioneers collecting beetles during the war against the potato beetle
Expansion of the Colorado potato beetle's range in North America, 1859–1876
Expansion of the Colorado potato beetle's range in Europe, 1921–1964
Eggs laid on the underside of a leaf
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References
- ↑ Leptinotarsa decemlineata (TSN 720110). Integrated Taxonomic Information System.
- ↑ Plant pests: The biggest threats to food security? BBC News Science & Environment [1]
- ↑ Alyokhin A. et al. 2008. Colorado potato beetle resistance to insecticides. American Journal of Potato Research 85: 395–413.
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Wikispecies has information on: Leptinotarsa decemlineata. |