Potato Beetle Traditional Cache

Description

True "potato beetles" are members of the beetle genus Leptinotarsa, with 32 species in North America, including Mexico; 10 species in the continental United States, including two species in Florida. The most notable is the Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Say), found in Florida and most of the United States, and introduced into Europe and parts of Asia. It is a serious pest of potatoes and other solanaceous plants.

The adult measure about 3/8 inch long and are yellowish-orange with multiple black stripes down the back

The life cycle of the potato beetle starts with the adult as the overwintering stage. They dig into the soil to a depth of several inches and emerge in the spring. They feed on newly sprouted host plants where they mate.

Potatoes are the preferred host for the potato beetle, but it may feed and survive on a number of other plants in the nightshade family: eggplant, tomato, pepper, tobacco, ground cherry, horse-nettle, common nightshade, belladonna, thorn apple, henbane, and its first recorded host plant: buffalo-bu

This cache has been placed with permission for the CREW Trust and
the South Florida Water Management District

Good luck!