The Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata, was once featured on ‘wanted’ posters in police stations and on notice boards to encourage the public to report any sightings to the Ministry of Agriculture - although the last serious damage to potato crops in the UK was in 1977, it still remains as a notifiable quarantine pest. Isolated outbreaks of this beetle were recorded, and eradicated, from a Hampshire potato field as recently as 2024.
Leptinotarsa decemlineata is a species of leaf beetle which overwinters as an adult, in and around potato fields, becoming active in the spring to coincide with the growth of potato plants. Research has indicated that the beetles are attracted to volatiles – vaporised chemicals – produced by mechanically damaged potato leaves.
Another study has shown that both sexes show a strong, visual attraction to yellow-black stripes, so aiding finding a mate. After mating, the female may lay several hundred eggs within a short period, depositing them in small clusters on the underside of the host leaves. The eggs hatch and larvae emerge to feed on the leaves, passing through four moults before reaching full size and becoming a nonfeeding prepupa. Prepupae fall to the ground and burrow into the soil to pupate and develop into adults.
