Cucurbit Beetle

Diabrotica speciosa

Description:

Diabrotica is a widespread genus of beetles, sometimes referred to as cucumber beetles or corn rootworms, in the family Chrysomelidae. Members of this genus include several destructive agricultural pest species. Corn rootworms are one of the most economically destructive insects of maize in the United States. The western corn rootworm, D. virgifera virgifera, and the northern corn rootworm, D. barberi, are the most devastating rootworm species in Iowa, a major corn-growing area. A third species, the southern corn rootworm, D. undecimpunctata howardi, causes much economic damage in other regions. Corn rootworm larvae can destroy significant percentages of corn if left untreated. In the United States, current estimates show 30 million acres (120,000 km2) of corn, out of 80 million acres (320,000 km2) grown, are infested with corn rootworms, and the number of infested acres is expected to grow over the next 20 years. The United States Department of Agriculture estimates that corn rootworms cause $1 billion in lost revenue each year, which includes $800 million in yield loss and $200 million in cost of treatment for corn growers. [2] Diabrotica was unknown in European countries until the late 1990s, and was forbidden even in laboratories because of the difficulty in eliminating it with known chemical insecticides if it escaped. It appears to have entered Europe from the United States in large numbers during the Yugoslav wars, and is especially widespread around US military airports, whose planes were likely to have carried the pest. It has since spread primarily in Italy, France, and Germany.