Subject: Yellow and Black Beetle
Geographic location of the bug: Montreal, QC, Canada
Date: 07/04/2019
Time: 10:41 AM EDT
Your letter to the bugman: I found this yellow and black beetle-like bug standing right next to an open banana peel, and the banana was used to make a smoothie. I do not know if the bug came from the banana and if the banana was strangely coloured because I did not make the smoothie. The peel was quite ripe. I caught the bug and put it in a plastic transparent cup. What is the name of the bug and If the bug came from the banana and I drank the smoothie, will I be ok?
How you want your letter signed: Michael
Dear Michael,
This is a Striped Cucumber Beetle, and according to BugGuide: “The most important hosts, perhaps the only larval hosts, are Cucurbitaceae.” We don’t know why it was on the banana.
In Southwest Utah i have also observed adults and larvae of this beetle feasting on tomatillo (Physalis) and jimsonweed (Datura). They can destroy tomatillo plants in just a few days.