Unidentified bug
Taipei, Taiwan, taken last Saturday. Thanks!

Spotted Tortoise Beetle, Aspidomorpha miliaris.

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Hi Bugman
I hope you are the person who can tell me what kind of bug that I photographed. This striped bug reminded me of a ladybug when it flew but it has stripes instead of dots. I was walking through a marsh area in southeastern Michigan. Any help you can give me would be much appreciated. Thank you.
Cris Music
Michigan-USA

Hi Chris,
We wrote to Eric Eaton for more information on your Leaf Beetle from the Family Chrysomelidae. Here is what he wrote: “This is indeed a leaf beetle, probably in the genus Disonycha, one of the larger flea beetles. Can’t give a species without running the specimen through a key, but that should get you in the ballpark to find more info.”

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What is this bug??
Hi Bugman,
We have had lots of these little critters in our den lately – and my husband and I have NEVER seen these before- we live in a wooded area in Southern California w/ lots of Eucalyptus trees. We find a few a day lately- and are so curious as to what they are and what they do and where they come from and how we can get rid of them! HELP! Thanks mucho!
Warm regards,
Jody Tsouo

Hi Jody,
Our first thought was perhaps you had some type of beetle larva, but we checked with Eric Eaton who thought that it might be one of the Rove Beetles. Your photo is a little unclear and the fact that you shot through plastic didn’t help.

Thanks for getting back to me- and yes, they do seem to be in somewhat of a larvae stage- when they move, their whole bodies shorten and extend, almost like a lizard or snake. I’ve been obsessed w/ them wondering what they are, and have been watching them quite closely I did a search online of rove beetles, and the ones we have look nothing like any rove beetle listed on this site. They don’t move fast at all either- and they tend to “Cling” when you try to grab them. I am having a pest person come over in a little bit to try and identify them- their 6 legs are in the upper quadrant of their body- and when I tried to grab one yesterday, this yellow fluid came out- wasn’t sure if it was waste, or trying to defend itself. It was bright yellow though. I’ll let you know what they say- he said if he couldn’t ID it, he’d send some up to the Cal Agro people… I can try and take some better shots if you want.
Warm regards,
Jody Tsouo

Hi again, Just found out that they may be lady bug larvae- since the pest guy wasn’t 100% sure, he’s sending them to the California Agro people to see what they say- the funny thing is we have seen a few lady bugs around lately- and just thought they were good luck! He did find a few dead lady bugs that were tan in color, and hadn’t fully developed to their red color yet.
Warm regards,
Jody Tsouo

Let us know what the California Agro people have to say Jody. Eric Eaton also agrees. He wrote back: “Ah-HA! The lady beetle larvae answer seems much better, though I would have expected some red markings somewhere….”

Update:  California Eucalyptus Beetle Larva
October 28, 2011
Thanks to a comment from sundeeavila, we now know that this is the larva of a recently introduced species of Leaf Beetle, the Eucalyptus Leaf Beetle, Chrysophtharta m-fuscum.  The UC Riverside Entomology site has a nice profile on the species that contains this information:  “Eucalyptus leaf beetle is a new pest of ornamental eucalyptus and was introduced from Australia into southern California around 2003. It is not controlled by native parasites or predators. In Australia it is commonly known as one of the eucalyptus tortoise beetle species. It is known as an outbreak pest of commercial E. globules, blue gum plantations in southeastern Australia.”  Here is a matching photo of the larvae.

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Our site just went down for the month, and though we have 130 letters outstanding, we decided to photograph this event taking place on our Datura plant. We noticed that the leaves were being eaten and found large numbers of beetle grub, chewing hungrily. They had an unusual viscous liquid on their backs. We also noticed a small green and black striped beetle on the plant. Guessing they were different stages of the same species, we researched the Three-Lined Potato Beetle, Lema trilineata, also called the Old-Fashioned Potato Beetle. This beetle obviously went out of fashion when the Colorado Potato Beetle became such a pest. Our Audubon Society Guide states: “Voracious larvae gather in clusters on potato leaves, nibbling lacy holes and eventually consuming all but the midvein. Unlike other larvae of other potato-feeders, they are blanketed in a wet froth of their own secretions. Adults can be distinguished from the Striped Cucumber Beetle by the constriction behind the thorax.”Datura is a member of the potato family, which explains the beetles presence on this hallucinogenic plant.

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