Bean Leaf Beetle – Ceratoma trifucata

Bean Leaf Beetle   Scientific Name:  Cerotoma trifurcata Common Name:  Bean leaf beetle, Leaf beetle Appearance:  Bean leaf beetle is a small beetle with a red or yellow body and four black spots on the dorsal surface. It occasionally features stripes as well as a triangular pattern on its wing’s margin. The larva is cylindrical and white in colour and grows up to an adult of 6 mm in length. Host Plants or Food: Bean leaf beetles mainly feed off legumes and vegetables in their initial stages. The most common host plants are soybeans, green beans, peanuts, pumpkins, and several species of weed. Territory: Throughout North America, Eastern USA and Western USA Mode of Damage: The adults are leaf chewers and bore holes in the soybean leaves and sometimes in the pods of legumes too. However, the larva is exclusively a root feeder. Habits and Life History: Bean leaf beetles are commonly found in areas where there is an abundance of soybean plants. The female beetles lay orange eggs near the base of the soybean plant, where it gives rise to a white, cylindrical larva. A single female beetle lays almost 250 eggs during its lifetime. The larvae feed on the roots of the soybean plant and transform into a pupa and eventually into an adult. They produce multiple generations per year. Due to its feeding habits, it can transmit the bean pod mottle virus among the plants.