What is Colorado potato beetle?
{{Taxobox | name = Colorado potato beetle | image = Colorado_potato_beetle.jpg | image_width = 250px | regnum = [[Animal]]ia | phylum = [[Arthropod]]a | classis = [[Insect]]a | ordo = [[Beetle|Coleoptera]] | subordo = [[Polyphaga]] | familia = [[Chrysomelidae]] | genus = ''[[Leptinotarsa]]'' | species = '''''L. decemlineata''''' | binomial = ''Leptinotarsa decemlineata'' | binomial_authority = [[Thomas Say|Say]], 1824<ref>{{ITIS|ID=720110|taxon=''Leptinotarsa decemlineata''}}</ref> }} [[Image:kartoffelkaefer fg01e.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Native ranges of the Colorado beetle and the potato]] The '''Colorado potato beetle''', ''Leptinotarsa decemlineata'', is a [[beetle]]. It is sometimes just called the Colorado beetle. It is one of the worst [[potato]] [[Pest (biology)|pests]] in the world. The beetle is notable for its ability to resist [[pesticide]]s. Over the last 50 years it has become [[Resistance|resistant]] to 52 [[chemical compound]]s used in insecticides, including [[cyanide]].<ref> Plant pests: The biggest threats to food security? BBC News Science & Environment [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-15623490]</ref> However, not every population is resistant to every chemical.<ref> Alyokhin A. ''et al.'' 2008. Colorado potato beetle resistance to insecticides. ''American Journal of Potato Research'' '''85''': 395–413. </ref> The Colorado beetle first lived in the southwest [[United States]] and northern [[Mexico]]. Now it lives in most of North America and also in [[Europe]] and [[Asia]]. ==What it eats== The Colorado potato beetle now eats cultivated [[potato]] plants. Both larvae and adults eat the leaves and strip the plant down to a skeleton. They may also attack [[tomato]] and [[eggplant]]s. There can be so many Colorado potato beetles in potato [[farm]]s that they destroy the potatoes. == Defence == Because the beetle rapidly evolves resistance to chemicals, the best defence may be [[biological control]]. A ground beetle, ''Lebia grandis'' is a [[predator]] of the eggs and larvae, an