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Beetles of Zihuatanejo

ORDER COLEOPTERA

Striped Cucumber Beetle
Acalymma vittatum​

-Animals (Kingdom Animalia)

-Arthropods (Phylum Arthropoda)

-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)

-Leaf Beetles and Allies (Superfamily Chrysomeloidea)

-Leaf Beetles Family (Chrysomelidae)

-Skeletonizing Leaf and Flea Beetles (Subfamily Galerucinae)

-Tribe Luperini

-Subtribe Diabroticina

-Genus Acalymma

-Acalymma vittatum


The adult beetles are 1/4" long and yellow-green with black longitudinal stripes. Eggs are small and orange-to-yellow in color. The worm-like larvae are slender, white, and about 1/3" long when full-grown. The Striped Cucumber Beetle is one of the most devastating pests of cucurbits (cucumbers, summer and winter squashes, all types of melons and pumpkins).

Diet

  • Adults: Feed on the leaves, flowers, pollen, stems, and fruits of plants in the gourd family (Cucurbitaceae), including squash, pumpkins, cucumbers, gourds, and melons.

  • Larvae: Feed on the roots and underground stems of cucurbit plants.

  • Adults may occasionally feed on the flowers and foliage of other herbaceous plants.

Range

  • Native to eastern and central North America, occurring from southern Canada through the eastern and central United States into northeastern Mexico.

  • It is not native to the Pacific coast of Mexico and is not known to occur in the Zihuatanejo region of Guerrero.

  • It is one of the principal insect pests of cucurbit crops throughout its native range.

Habitat

  • Found in vegetable gardens, agricultural fields, orchards, meadows, roadsides, and disturbed habitats where cucurbit plants are present.

  • Adults are commonly seen on the leaves and flowers of cultivated and wild cucurbits.

  • Larvae develop in the soil surrounding the roots of host plants.

Size

  • Adult length: 5–6 mm (0.2–0.24 in)

  • Larval length: Up to 10 mm (0.4 in)

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