Colorado potato beetle
This beetle can strip a potato plant bare within days and has evolved resistance to more classes of insecticide than almost any other crop pest.
| Where | Potato fields and farmland |
|---|---|
| Size | 6 to 11 mm body length |
| When | May to September |
Adults are yellowish orange with ten narrow black stripes running the length of each wing case, and the orange brown head carries a scattering of dark spots.
Eggs are laid in clusters on the undersides of potato leaves, and larvae and adults both feed on potato and related nightshade plants from spring through early autumn.
Traits
Habitat
Farmland
Colour
Yellow, Black
Active
Day
To people
Not harmful to people, though it is one of the most damaging pests of potato crops.
Activity through the year
Often confused with
Also found on European farmland but only about half the size at 5 to 7 mm, with three narrow stripes rather than the ten bold black lines of the Colorado potato beetle.
Questions
Is the Colorado potato beetle dangerous to people?
Not harmful to people, though it is one of the most damaging pests of potato crops.
When can you see the Colorado potato beetle?
The Colorado potato beetle can be seen from May to September, by day.
Plate retouched from a photo by Francisco Welter-Schultes, CC0, Wikimedia Commons Licence
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Beetles›Leaf beetles›Leptinotarsa
Last updated 2026-09-26. Every entry is checked against published sources.