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Project Noah Nature School
Spotted on May 14, 2012
Submitted on May 14, 2012
2 Comments
This little beetle is actually a Tortoise Beetle and the plant damage is from the beetle. This is most likely a 13-spotted Tortoiseshell Beetle (there are two species in your area). They are a pest of sweet potato plants.
I can't find a photo that looks exactly like yours but very similar:
http://keys.lucidcentral.org/keys/sweetp...
Nice one. Are the black spots on the leaves a fungus or something like that?