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Golden Beetle with Black Sanscript
October 3, 2009
Found in New England, near Boston MA: we saw one last year and this is the second one this year so far. Cannot find other pictures that look like it online. I realize it’s probably in the Eucalyptus family but no name that i could find.
Leisu Kirby
Hudson, MA

Dogwood Calligrapha

Hi Leisu,
This is a Leaf Beetle in the genus Calligrapha.  We believe it is the Dogwood Calligrapha, Calligrapha philadelphica, though there are several other species in the genus that could possibly be your beetle.  The eucalyptus family is a group of trees.  The family in this case is Chrysomelidae, the Leaf Beetles.  It is interesting that you noted the Sanscript since the genus name refers to the writing like markings on the elytra or wing covers.  BugGuide indicates that this species:  “Differs from C. multipunctata primarily in having the pronotum uniformly dark. Also, dark areas including spots are more likely to be dark metallic green in this species, in contrast with the black of C. multipunctata.“

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