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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Beetles (Coleoptera) » Polyphaga » Series Cucujiformia » Longhorn and Leaf Beetles (Chrysomeloidea) » Leaf Beetles (Chrysomelidae) » Chrysomelinae » Chrysomelini » Doryphorina » Zygogramma » Ragweed Leaf Beetle (Zygogramma suturalis)

Species Zygogramma suturalis - Ragweed Leaf Beetle

Classification · Explanation of Names · Size · Identification · Range · Food · Remarks · See Also · Works Cited

Ragweed Leaf Beetle - Zygogramma suturalis

Chrysomelidae, ventral - Zygogramma suturalis

Zygogramma saturalis - Zygogramma suturalis

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)

Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Coleoptera (Beetles)

Suborder Polyphaga

No Taxon (Series Cucujiformia)

Superfamily Chrysomeloidea (Longhorn and Leaf Beetles)

Family Chrysomelidae (Leaf Beetles)

Subfamily Chrysomelinae

Tribe Chrysomelini

Subtribe Doryphorina

Genus Zygogramma

Species suturalis (Ragweed Leaf Beetle)

Explanation of Names

Zygogramma suturalis (Fabricius 1775)

Size

<6.5 mm

Identification

Easily distinguished from Calligrapha bidenticola by the form of the tarsal claws or by the color of the epipleuron – characters rarely visible on photos.

In dorsal view, C. bidenticola is slightly more elongate than Z. suturalis but otherwise very similar. Do not try to separate the two based on whether the elytral stripe is divided. This character varies geographically and is sometimes not even consistent for beetles found together at the same locality. ‒S.M. Clark, pers.comm. to =v= 11.ix.2013

Range

NA east of the Rockies (QC‒FL to MB‒NM)(1)(2)

Food

host: Ambrosia (Asteraceae)(3)

Remarks

introduced to Russia in 1978 to control ragweed (with frustrating results) (Reznik et al.)

See Also

Calligrapha bidenticola

Works Cited

1.	Catalog of Leaf Beetles of America North of Mexico Ed Riley, Shawn Clark, and Terry Seeno. 2003. Coleopterists Society.

2.	Checklist of beetles (Coleoptera) of Canada and Alaska. Second edition Bousquet Y., Bouchard P., Davies A.E., Sikes D.S. 2013. ZooKeys 360: 1–402.

3.	Host plants of leaf beetle species occurring in the United States and Canada Clark et al. 2004. Coleopterists Society, Special Publication no. 2, 476 pp.

Contributed by tom murray on 22 December, 2005 - 6:31pm
Additional contributions by Mike Quinn, ceiseman, v belov
Last updated 24 January, 2024 - 9:48pm

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