False Potato Beetle
From Freepedia
| False Potato Beetle | ||||||||||||||
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| Image:False Potato Beetle.JPG | ||||||||||||||
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| Leptinotarsa juncta (Germar, 1824) |
The False potato beetle, Leptinotarsa juncta, can be easily confused with its close cousin the Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata. While these two insects look nearly identical, only the Colorado potato beetle is a serious pest. While the adult false potato beetle has alternating black and white strips on its back, just like the Colorado potato beetle, one of the white strips in the center of each wing cover is missing and replaced by a light brown strip. The eggs are slightly larger and fewer found in a cluster. The humpbacked larva is similar, but with only one row of dark spots on each side.
False potato beetles are frequently found feeding on some solanaceous weeds, such as horsenettle, Solanum carolinense. They also feed on other solanaceous plants, such as species of ground cherry or husk tomato, Physalis spp., and common nightshade, Solanum dulcamara, but no growth and reproduction occurs when feeding on the potato, Solanum tuberosum.
