Class: Insects
Size: Approx. 15mm
Weight: Variable
Age: Up to 2 years
Appearance: Yellow-orange carapace with black stripes, “warning costume
Sexual dimorphism: No
Diet type: Herbivore
Food: Potato plant
Distribution: Worldwide
Original location: USA
Sleep-wake rhythm: Diurnal
Habitat: Potato fields
Natural enemies: None
Mating season: May to June
Egg laying: Up to 2’000 eggs
Threatened with extinction: No

• The Colorado potato beetle is a leaf beetle that originated in Colorado, USA, and was introduced in other parts of the United States as well as in large parts of Europe and Asia in the 19th century.
• The Colorado potato beetle and its larvae introduced into Europe do not know any natural predators, the infestation consequently becomes an uncontrollable plague. On the other hand, it serves as a food source for various birds and other beetles in its habitat.
• Larvae are particularly problematic for agriculture. At this stage of development, they are real eating machines and remain on the plant until only tubers are left.
• Its original diet consisted of spiny nightshade plants. It was only after the settlement of America by Europeans that the beetle began to spread to their potato plantations.
• Besides potato plants, other agriculturally cultivated nightshade plants such as tomatoes, peppers or aubergines as well as tobacco plants are important food sources for Colorado potato beetles.
• Despite its bad reputation, the Colorado potato beetle is also known for its striking appearance.
• Its yellow to orange neck shield is dotted with black spots, and the bright yellow dorsal carapace has five vertical stripes on each side and is also black. This is the origin of its Latin name, as decemlineata roughly means “there are ten lines”.
• Its striking colour protects the Colorado potato beetle from being eaten, as the yellows and reds are classified as poisonous and inedible in the animal kingdom.
• The maximum body length of Colorado potato beetles is only one and a half centimetres, and with its six thin legs it can only move slowly. As excellent flyers, they move from one potato field to the next.
• The female lays a package of up to eighty yellow eggs under the potato leaves. The red- and black-spotted larvae grow quickly and pupate after about three weeks in the soil where the hatched beetle overwinters.
• Colorado potato beetles can live up to two years and reproduce up to three times a year. A female lays about 25’000 of the yellow eggs per season.