Bug FAQSunflower beetle
Zygogramma exclamationis · Order: Coleoptera · Family: Chrysomelidae
Source: Wikipedia
The sunflower beetle is a small leaf beetle about 6 to 12 mm long and 2 to 4 mm wide. Adults have a brown pronotum and yellow wing covers marked with three long brown stripes plus a short lateral stripe ending in a dot that looks like an exclamation point.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Adults show a brown pronotum and yellow elytra with three elongated brown stripes and a shorter lateral stripe that ends in a dot resembling an exclamation point.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
The beetle measures 6 to 12 mm in length and 2 to 4 mm in width.
Source: Wikipedia
Is it a pest in the house?
It is a major economic pest of sunflower production in North America.
Source: Wikipedia
How to get rid of it
Because its life cycle is short, planting sunflowers later than usual can help avoid yield loss.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
It lives on common, giant, and prairie sunflowers (Helianthus annuus, H. giganteus, H. petiolaris).
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Both adults and larvae feed on the foliage of sunflower species.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
Each female lays about 850 eggs, ranging from 200 to 2 000. Eggs hatch after roughly one week. The larvae pass through four instars. Pupation lasts 10 to 14 days. Adult beetles live for about eight weeks and can lay eggs throughout most of that time.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
Adults appear from late May/early June and remain active for about eight weeks.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
The species is native to North America.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 5 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Utah, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, North Dakota.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: native in Canada. Source: iNaturalist
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Questions people ask
How can I identify a sunflower beetle?
Look for a small beetle (6 to 12 mm) with a brown pronotum and yellow wing covers marked by three long brown stripes and a short lateral stripe ending in a dot that looks like an exclamation point.
Source: Wikipedia
What damage do they cause?
Both adults and larvae feed on sunflower leaves, making the beetle a major defoliating pest of cultivated sunflowers.
Source: Wikipedia
How should I control sunflower beetles?
Apply insecticide if you find one adult per seedling, 10-15 larvae per plant on upper leaves, or 25 % leaf loss before pupation, and consider planting sunflowers later to avoid the peak beetle period.
Source: Wikipedia
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/Calligrapha_exclamationis
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-29 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-29.