BEETLES

Three-lined Potato Beetle, Lema triloneata

Order: Coleoptera (Beetles)

Size: Up to 1⁄4"

Habitat: Areas with plants of the nightshade family (Solanaceae); fields, crops, gardens

Range: Throughout North America

Three-lined Potato Beetles are members of a group known as the “leaf beetles,” with over 1,000 species worldwide. Like all beetles, they have a pair of tough, leathery wings that cover the membranous flight wings underneath. Although destructive, they are attractive small insects with an overall orangey coloration, three black stripes along the back, black eyes and antennae, and sometimes two black spots on the thorax. The bases of the legs are orange and the outer portions are black. Larvae and adults feed almost exclusively on plants of the nightshade family, especially potatoes, and can be a serious pest in crops and gardens. Because of toxins in these plants, the beetles are distasteful to most predators, and the larvae are even less attractive because they cover themselves with a mucous-like covering of excrement.