Eucalyptus leaf beetle
Paropsisterna m-fuscum
The eucalyptus leaf beetle is a pale little beetle from Australia with brown patterns on its back. No two look quite the same, because the markings change from beetle to beetle. Some even have a bright patch near their shoulders.
Lives in
Australia, and now also California, on gum trees
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless to people. It is only a problem for the trees it eats.
What does it eat?
It eats the leaves of eucalyptus trees, also called gum trees. Its larvae munch the leaves too.
How fast is it?
A garden snail about 0.05 km/h (0.03 mph)
A tortoise about 0.3 km/h (0.19 mph)
Eucalyptus leaf beetle about 0.5 km/h (0.31 mph)
A person walking about 5 km/h (3.1 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
Its larvae are pale green, just like the leaves they eat, which makes them hard to spot.
2
When there are lots of them, they can eat so many leaves that foresters see them as a serious pest.
3
It travelled from Australia to California, where it now eats blue gum trees.
you asked
Most asked questions about Eucalyptus leaf beetle
?Is the eucalyptus leaf beetle dangerous?
No. It is harmless to people, but it can harm eucalyptus trees.
?What does the eucalyptus leaf beetle eat?
Leaves of eucalyptus trees. Both the beetles and their larvae eat them.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Paropsisterna m-fuscum
- Group
- Beetles
- Family
- Chrysomelidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Coleoptera > Chrysomelidae
- Lives on
- Australia and Oceania, North America
Where the facts come from
- Paropsisterna m-fuscum (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Martinlagerwey. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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