The Colorado potato beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata, Chrysomelidae) has also been known as the ten-striped spearman and the ten-lined potato beetle. It is approximately 10 mm (0.4 inches) long, with a bright yellow/orange body and bold brown stripes across the length of its wing covers. Despite its name, this beetle is not native to Colorado.
Leptinotarsa can lay up to 800 eggs at a time, up to three times per year. The eggs are usually deposited on potato leaves, and after 4-15 days, hatch into reddish-brown larvae with humped backs and two rows of dark brown spots on either side. Larvae drop to the soil and burrow to a depth of several inches, where they emerge in the spring as adults after two weeks of pupation. They return to their host plant to mate and feed, hence their unpopularity with potato farmers.
Insecticides are often used unsuccessfully against Leptinotarsa because of the beetle's resistance to toxins and ability to rapidly develop immunity to them.
