Bug FAQColorado Potato Beetle
Leptinotarsa decemlineata · Order: Coleoptera · Family: Chrysomelidae
Also called: Colorado Beetle, Leaf Beetle, Ten-striped Colorado Potato Beetle
Native to the Rocky Mountains, they now occur across most of North America except a few western states.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
The beetle’s body is bright orange-yellow and each elytron shows ten distinct black stripes.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Adults measure roughly 6 to 11 mm long and about 3 mm wide. A typical length is around 10 mm.
Source: Wikipedia
Is it a pest in the house?
UK authorities monitor it to keep it from establishing.
Source: Wikipedia
How to get rid of it
Since 1875 several Western European nations banned American potato imports to prevent infestation. UK plant health agencies continue to monitor it as a quarantine pest.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
They originated in the Rocky Mountains. Today they are found throughout North America, missing only Alaska, California, Hawaii and Nevada.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
In the Rockies they have been collected feeding on buffalo bur, a Solanum species.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
The last major population outbreak was recorded in 1977.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
Their most likely native area is between Colorado and northern Mexico. They are also considered native to the Rocky Mountains.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
It can be mistaken for the false potato beetle, L. juncta. L. juncta lacks the central white stripe on each wing cover, showing a light brown stripe instead.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 50 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Texas, Colorado, Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Same family (Chrysomelidae)
Spotted Cucumber BeetleDiabrotica undecimpunctataDamages trees, gardens or crops
Bean WeevilAcanthoscelides obtectusDamages trees, gardens or crops
Cowpea WeevilCallosobruchus maculatusDamages trees, gardens or crops
Swamp Milkweed Leaf BeetleLabidomera clivicollisDamages trees, gardens or crops
Alder Leaf BeetleAgelastica alniDamages trees, gardens or crops
Dogbane Leaf BeetleChrysochus auratusSources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorado_potato_beetle
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-22 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.