Colorado (potato) beetle

An insect belonging to the family Chrysomelidae in the order Coleoptera of the class Insecta. It is a major potato pest found in North America and Europe. Its body length is about 10 mm. Its body is nearly hemispherical, orange-yellow in color, with five black vertical stripes on each of the upper bristles, and a black mark on the prothorax. It is native to the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains, which is the border between the United States and Mexico, where it used to eat wild plants, but as potato cultivation began, it moved to potato cultivation, spreading to the Atlantic coast between 1855 and 1874, appearing in France in 1922, and distributing throughout almost all of central and southern Europe over the next 40 years, even invading the former Soviet Union. In addition to potatoes, it also likes to feed on several species of the same genus, including tomatoes. At suitable temperatures, it produces four generations a year, and the adults hibernate underground for the winter. The larvae are red and well-fattened, with two rows of black spots on both sides of their bodies.

[Takehiko Nakane]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

昆虫綱甲虫目ハムシ科に属する昆虫。北アメリカとヨーロッパに分布するジャガイモの大害虫である。体長10ミリメートル前後。体は半球形に近く、橙黄(とうこう)色で上ばねに各5条の黒い縦帯があり、前胸にも黒紋がある。原産地はアメリカとメキシコの境界域であるロッキー山脈の東側で、野草を食べていたが、ジャガイモの栽培とともにこれに移り、1855年から74年までに大西洋岸まで広がり、1922年にはフランスに現れ、以後40年間にヨーロッパ中・南部ほぼ全域に分布し、旧ソ連にも侵入した。ジャガイモのほか、トマトなど同属の数種も好んで食害する。適温では年4世代を繰り返し、成虫は地中で越冬する。幼虫は赤くてよく太り、体の両側に黒点が2列ある。

［中根猛彦］

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