Epicauta vittata
| Epicauta vittata | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Coleoptera |
| Infraorder: | Cucujiformia |
| Family: | Meloidae |
| Genus: | Epicauta |
| Species: | E. vittata
|
| Binomial name | |
| Epicauta vittata Fabricius, 1775
| |
Epicauta vittata is a species of beetle in the family Meloidae, the blister beetles. It is native to eastern North America, including eastern Canada and the eastern United States.[1] It is known commonly as the striped blister beetle and the old-fashioned potato beetle.[2] It is known as an agricultural pest.
Description
The adult beetle is 9 to 17 millimeters long. It is long and slender, with a hairy, punctate body. The
The larva, which is a triungulin, changes in appearance as it develops. The new larva is whitish and has long legs that allow it to be mobile. During this more mobile stage, it parasitizes a grasshopper egg case. From there, it becomes a sedentary grub. When it becomes a sedentary grub it darkens to a reddish-brown color with darker bands, and the legs shrink.[3]
Life cycle
Many blister beetles have a complex developmental cycle in which the larva and pupa experience drastic changes in morphology between growth phases.[1]
There are one or two generations per year, with peak abundance of adults in the summer, or slightly earlier in more hospitable climate types. The adult female produces eggs about every 10 days. It deposits them in masses of 100 to 200 in a tubular chamber a few centimeters deep in the soil, then covers them. The eggs are whitish and about 2 millimeters long. They hatch within 16 days. The functional legs of the new larva allow it to seek its food, the egg of a grasshopper. As it feeds and develops at its food source, its legs become reduced.[3] The striped blister beetle is associated with grasshopper species that produce large egg-pods, such as the two-striped grasshopper (Melanoplus bivittatus) and differential grasshopper (Melanoplus differentialis).
Impacts
The adult beetle is most active during the morning and late afternoon hours, when it feeds on plants. During the heat of mid-day it seeks shelter, and in hot, dry climates it may only be active in the evening. Its preferred host plants are anything solanaceous, and other plants including
It is considered to be one of the most problematic of the pest blister beetles in its range. It feeds voraciously, prefers crop plants, damages fruits, and forms
Worse than its damage to plants is its toxicity.
Ecology
Predators of the striped blister beetle include robber flies and several birds, such as the western meadowlark, eastern bluebird, and scissor-tailed flycatcher. Its eggs are attacked by another blister beetle, Epicauta atrata.[3]
Frogs are apparently not affected by Meloidae beetle toxin, and "consume meloids with impunity".[6] After eating blister beetles, frogs retain the toxin in their tissues and secrete it in their mucus for a short time, and predators that consume the frogs can be poisoned. This includes humans who consume foods such as frog legs. Northern leopard frogs fed striped blister beetles in studies accumulated cantharidin in their thigh muscles, among other tissues. It is estimated that as little as 200 grams of frog legs from beetle-fed frogs could contain a potentially fatal dose of toxin.[6]
References
- ^ a b Selander, R. B. and T. R. Fasulo. Blister beetles. EENY-166. University of Florida IFAS. Published 2000, revised 2010.
- ^ Epicauta vittata. Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS).
- ^ a b c d e f Capinera, J. L. Striped Blister Beetle, Epicauta vittata (Fabricius) (Coleoptera: Meloidae). EENY-280. Entomology and Nematology. Florida Cooperative Extension Service. University of Florida IFAS. 2003.
- ^ a b c d e f g Bailey, W. C., et al. G4569 Blister Beetle Management in Alfalfa. Archived 2017-09-14 at the Wayback Machine University of Missouri Extension. 1993.
- ^ Hopkins, J. D., et al. Blister Beetle Management in Alfalfa. Archived 2013-12-29 at the Wayback Machine Agriculture and Natural Resources. University of Arkansas.
- ^ a b c Eisner, T., et al. (1990). Systemic retention of ingested cantharidin by frogs. Archived 2013-11-05 at the Wayback Machine Chemoecology 1(2), 57–62.
- ^ DiFonzo, C. Cantharidin content and lethal dose of common Michigan blister beetles. Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine Field Crops Entomology, Michigan State University. 2009.