yellow-lined tortoise beetle

Yellow-lined tortoise beetle is a very small, ⅛″ to 3 ⁄16″ (3.6 to 4.9 mm) long, leaf-mining beetle. The body is elongated and nearly parallel-sided, only slightly widened toward the rear.

The hardened plate on the upper side of the thorax (pronotum) is black and is narrower than the base of the hardened forewings (elytra).

The elytra have rows of punctures bordered by distinct ridges. There is a red stripe and a red subapical spot on each elytra. The margins of the elytra are toothed (serrated).

The head is black and slants backward. The part of the face between the eyes corresponding to the forehead (frons) is distinctly angled. The eyes are large and black and are not notched. The mouth parts are small. The antennae are black and short, less than half as long as the body. They have 11 segments but the terminal segments are fused together, making them appear to have just 8 segments.

The legs are black. The last part of each leg (tarsus), corresponding to the foot, is black and has five segments. The fourth segment is very short and is concealed within the broadened tip of the third segment, making the tarsus appear to have only four segments.

Total length: ⅛″ to 3 ⁄16″

Various plants in the aster (Asteraceae) family

The larvae are leaf miners. They feed between the upper and lower leaf surfaces.

Leaves of the same plants that the adults feed on

Leaves of various plants in the aster (Asteraceae) family, including Canada goldenrod, common blue wood aster, early goldenrod, New England aster purple-stem aster, western ragweed, white doll’s daisy, and white panicled aster

Sources

24, 29, 30, 82, 83.

Location: Woodbury, MN