Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada

Species Epilachna varivestis - Mexican Bean Beetle

Mexican Bean Beetle  - Epilachna varivestis Beetle - Epilachna varivestis eggs - Epilachna varivestis WI092512 - 1 - Epilachna varivestis Bean Bug - Epilachna varivestis WI092013 - 001 - Epilachna varivestis Mexican Bean Beetle - Epilachna varivestis Epilachna varivestis? - Epilachna varivestis
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Coleoptera (Beetles)
Suborder Polyphaga
No Taxon (Series Cucujiformia)
Superfamily Coccinelloidea
No Taxon (Coccinellid group)
Family Coccinellidae (Lady Beetles)
Subfamily Epilachninae (Plant-eating Lady Beetles)
Genus Epilachna
Species varivestis (Mexican Bean Beetle)
Other Common Names
Mexican Bean Lady Beetle
Explanation of Names
Epilachna varivestis Mulsant 1850
varivestis - from Latin varius- "diverse" + vestis- "clothing, attire"
Size
6-10mm (1)
Adults: 6-8.5mm, larvae a maximum of 9mm (U. Ga website)
Identification
A little larger than typical ladybugs. Each elytron has 8 spots; pronotum immaculate (spotless) - noted here. Orange to copper colored. (1) and (U. Ga website).
Range
e. US; c. Rockies to C. Amer. - Map (2)
Originally Mexico and sw US, but since 1920 has spread into the e. US (1). Also present in Ontario, Canada. (U. Guelph website)
Season
mostly Jun-Oct. (BG data)
Food
Beans, soybeans, cowpeas, clover, alfalfa, kudzu, and beggartick/beggarweed. (1) and (U. Ga. website)
Adults and larvae feed on surface of leaves. Eaten leaves take on lacy appearance. (1) and (U. Ga. website)
Life Cycle
Eggs develop into adults in approximately 1 month, with 1-4 generations per year depending on climate. (1)
Adults overwinter in plant debris or protected location and emerge when temperature reaches 50 degrees F. Adults live approx. 6 weeks. Females lay hundres of yellow-orange, elliptical eggs which hatch in about a week. Larvae feed 2-4 weeks, pupation is 5-10 days. (U. Ga website)
Egg laying. Eggs. Larva. Older larva. Pupa. Adults
Remarks
A project to control these beetles in the eastern U.S. was attempted in the 1920s using a natural parasitic wasp predator from Mexico, but the wasp used did not survive in temperate climates. (1)
See Also

Print References
Peterson's Beetle Guide (1). (see Fig. 100)
Internet References
University of Florida Entomology (includes photo of larva)
Purdue Entomology (includes photo of life cycle stages and Indiana life cycle timeline)
Species des coléoptères trimères sécuripalpes, p.815    Mulsant's original description of the species (in French)
Works Cited
1.Peterson Field Guides: Beetles
Richard E. White. 1983. Houghton Mifflin Company.
2.The Coccinellidae (Coleoptera) of America North of Mexico
Robert D. Gordon. 1985. Journal of the New York Entomological Society, Vol. 93, No. 1.