Texas Beetle Information

Return to Texas Entomology - Compiled by Mike Quinn

Striped Cucumber Beetle

Acalymma vittatum (Fabricius)

Family Chrysomelidae, Subfamily Galerucinae, Tribe Luperini

cf. D. barberi, D. balteata, D. undecimpunctata

Springfield, Fairfax Co., Virginia
July 24, 2004 (Richard Leung)

State Records for Acalymma vittatum

State Record Data from Riley et al. 2003

Range:

Eastern US and adjacent Canada to various Rocky Mountain states.
Based on the revision of Munroe & Smith (1980), records from Latin America are in error.

Hosts: The most important hosts, perhaps the only larval hosts, are Cucurbitaceae (Clark et al. 2004)

Biology: Larvae feed on plant roots.

Similar Species:

This genus includes more than 70 described species, six of which occur north of Mexico. Five of the six species have stripes and belong to the gouldi group of Acalymma. They feed on cucurbits and are commonly known as striped cucumber beetles. (Arnett et al. 2002)

Texas Taxa:

Acalymma blandulum blandulum (LeConte)
Acalymma peregrinum (Jacoby)
Acalymma trivittatum (Mannerheim)
Acalymma vinctum (LeConte)
Acalymma vittatum (Fabricius)

Weblink: Cucumber Beetles - Virginia Cooperative Extension

Photos:

striped cucumber beetle - Whitney Cranshaw, Colorado State University
Acalymma species - Insects of Cedar Creek

Etymology:

= vitta, -t (L.). A stripe, band; striped

References:

Arnett, R.H., Jr., M.C. Thomas, P. E. Skelley & J.H. Frank. (editors). 2002. American Beetles, Volume II: Polyphaga: Scarabaeoidea through Curculionoidea. CRC Press. 861 pp.

Balduf, W.V. 1922. The striped cucumber beetle (Diabrotica vittata) its biology. Bulletin of the Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station, 388: 241-311.

Borror, D.J. 1960. Dictionary of Word Roots and Combining Forms. National Press Books, Palo Alto. 134 pp.

Boving, A.G. & F.C. Craighead. 1931. An illustrated synopsis of the principal larval forms of the order Coleoptera. Entomologica Americana (new series) 11: i-viii + 1-351.

Clark, S.M., D.G. LeDoux, T.N. Seeno, E.G. Riley, A.J. Gilbert & J.M. Sullivan. 2004. Host plants of leaf beetle species occurring in the United States and Canada (Coleoptera: Megalopodidae, Orsodacnidae, Chrysomelidae exclusive of Bruchinae). Coleopterists Society, Special Publication no. 2, 476 pp.

Jacoby, M. 1887. Biologia Centrali-Americana, Insecta, Coleoptera, Galerucidae, 6(1):497-584.

Lawson, F.A. 1991. Chrysomelidae. Pp: 568-585 In: F. W. Stehr, (editor) Immature Insects Vol. 2. Kendall/Hunt, Dubuque, Iowa.

Munroe, D.D. & R.F. Smith. 1980. A revision of the systematics of Acalymma sensu stricto Barber (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) from North America including Mexico. Memoirs of the Entomological Society of Canada 112: 1-92.

Riley, E.G., S.M. Clark, & T.N. Seeno. 2003. Catalog of the leaf beetles of America north of Mexico (Coleoptera: Megalopodidae, Orsodacnidae and Chrysomelidae, excluding Bruchinae). Coleopterists Society, Special Publication no. 1, 290 pp.