Alligatorweed flea beetle
The alligatorweed flea beetle is a small black beetle with yellow stripes on its back. It is a helper beetle. People bring it to rivers and lakes to eat a weed that clogs up the water.
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Fun facts
One female lays about 1,000 eggs in her short life of six weeks.
She lays her tiny eggs in neat rows on the leaves.
When the beetles eat all the leaves of a weed mat, the weed dies and the water is clear again.
Using one living thing to stop a pest is called biological control, and this beetle is a famous success.
Most asked questions about Alligatorweed flea beetle
?Why do people use the alligatorweed flea beetle?
It eats alligator weed, a plant that clogs rivers and lakes, and helps clear the water.
?Is the alligatorweed flea beetle dangerous?
No. It is harmless to people and only eats alligator weed.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Agasicles hygrophila
- Group
- Beetles
- Family
- Chrysomelidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Coleoptera > Chrysomelidae
- Lives on
- South America, North America, Australia and Oceania
- Also known as
- Alligator weed flea beetle
Where the facts come from
- Agasicles hygrophila (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 Gary Buckingham, USDA Agricultural Research Service. Public domain, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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