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Beetles of Zihuatanejo

ORDER COLEOPTERA

Southern Squash Lady
Epilachna tredecimnotata

-Animals (Kingdom Animalia)

-Hexapods (Subphylum Hexapoda)

-Insects (Class Insecta)

-Winged and Once-winged Insects (Subclass Pterygota)

-Beetles (Order Coleoptera​​)

-​Water, Rove, Scarab, Long-horned, Leaf, and Snout Beetles (Suborder Polyphaga)

-​Cucujiform Beetles (Infraorder Cucujiformia)

-Lady, Fungus, Scavenger, and Bark Beetles (Superfamily Coccinelloidea)

-Lady Beetles (Family Coccinellidae)

-Common Lady Beetles (Subfamily Coccinellinae)

-Plant-eating Lady Beetles (Tribe Epilachnini)

-Genus Epilachna

-Southern Squash Lady Beetle (Epilachna tredecimnotata)


Squash Lady Beetles feed on the leaves of plants in the squash family. This includes summer squash, zucchini, and cucumbers. They also eat bean and pea plants. They are slightly larger than other, beneficial Lady Beetles.Larvae of the Squash Lady Beetle also feed on the same plants, doubling the damage this insect inflicts.

Diet

  • Adults: Primarily herbivorous, feeding on the leaves of cucurbit plants, including squash, cucumber, watermelon, chayote and related plants.

  • Larvae: Also feed on cucurbit foliage, often skeletonizing the leaves by consuming the soft tissue while leaving the veins.

  • Important host plants include Cucurbita, Cucumis, Citrullus and Sechium.

Range

  • Epilachna tredecimnotata is widely distributed from the southwestern United States through Mexico and Central America, extending into parts of the Caribbean and South America.

  • In Mexico it occurs across numerous states, including Guerrero, Jalisco, Michoacán, Morelos, Oaxaca, Nayarit, Sinaloa and Veracruz.

  • A regular sighting in the Zihuatanejo region of Guerrero.

Habitat

  • Found in tropical dry forest, tropical deciduous forest, agricultural fields, gardens, woodland edges and secondary vegetation.

  • Particularly associated with areas where cucurbit vines and other suitable host plants are abundant.

  • Adults and larvae are usually found directly on the foliage of their host plants.

Size

  • Adult length: approximately 6.7–10.1 mm (0.26–0.40 in).

  • Body broadly oval and strongly convex, with an orange to reddish-orange background and numerous black spots.

  • The number, size and degree of fusion of the spots can vary considerably between individuals.

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