Colorado Potato Beetle

The Colorado potato beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata) - also known as the Colorado beetle, ten-striped spearman, the ten-lined potato beetle, potato bug - is an important pest of potato crops. It is approximately 10 mm (0.4 inches) long, with a bright yellow/orange body and 5 bold brown stripes along the length of each of its elytra, and it can easily be confused with its close cousin and look-alike, the false potato beetle. The beetle was described in 1824 by Thomas Say from specimens collected in the Rocky Mountains on buffalo-bur, Solanum rostratum. The origin of the beetle is somewhat unclear, but it seems to be that Colorado and Mexico are a part of its native distribution in southwestern North America.