Acalymma vittatum

TaxID: 133117

Basic Information

Acalymma vittatum

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Acalymma vittatum, the striped cucumber beetle, is a beetle of the family Chrysomelidae and a serious pest of cucurbit crops in both larval and adult stages. The striped cucumber beetle has a distinctive appearance, displaying a yellow-colored elytra with black stripes. It is distributed from eastern North America to the Rocky Mountains and can be found as far south as Mexico and as far North as southern Canada. In western North America, past the Rocky Mountains, the striped cucumber beetle is replaced by Acalymma trivittatum, a duller colored species often with grayish or pale white elytra rather than yellow. The striped cucumber beetle is unique in that it is resistant to a chemical, cucurbitacin, that is found in plants and serves as a defense mechanism against herbivores. In fact, the striped cucumber beetles are drawn towards this chemical; this is an example of coevolution, where one species evolves a phenotype against a defensive phenotype of another. The reason they are called the striped cucumber beetle is because they are found commonly in cucurbit plants, like cucumbers. Male striped cucumber beetles also release pheromones that cause aggregation of other striped cucumber beetles to the site of feeding. This creates opportunities for the males to mate with females. Due to the striped cucumber beetle's detrimental effect on cucurbit crops, such as cucumbers and pumpkins, many management methods have been developed to curb striped beetle populations in the early spring to reduce the negative impact on farmers. Some examples include biological control agents and strategies involving bait crops.

from Wikipedia

Taxonomic Information

Eukaryota

Arthropoda

Insecta

Coleoptera

Chrysomelidae

Acalymma

Acalymma vittatum

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Photos (0 photos)

No photos available.

Morphological Features

No morphological description available.

Host Plants (0 host plants)

Data sources: EPPO Global Database and relevant literature.

No host plants available.

Quarantine Status (5 records)

Data sources: IPPC website and national quarantine websites; verified by human review.

Country Status Year Added
Brazil Absent —
Guatemala Absent —
Japan Quarantine pests —
Republic of Korea Quarantine pests —
United States of America Quarantine pests —

Distribution (0 countries)

Data Sources: EPPO Global Database and GBIF.

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Present
0
Absent
0
Unknown/Other

No distribution records available.

Genomes (0 records)

Data source: NCBI.

No genome records available.

Transcriptomes (3 records)

Data source: NCBI.

Run ID Tissue Developmental Stage Sex Read Count Location Actions
SRR7902386 whole-insect adult male 87090530 USA: Maryland, Beltsville, BARC
SRR7902385 whole-insect adult female 97979570 USA: Maryland, Beltsville, BARC
SRR7902384 whole-insect adult male 104805615 USA: Maryland, Beltsville, BARC

DNA Barcodes (0 records)

View all

Data source: BOLD.

No DNA barcode records available.

Literature