Myochrous denticollis

Myochrous denticollis, the southern corn leaf beetle, is a species of leaf beetle.[1][2][3][4] It is found in Central America and North America.[1] It is a crop pest, and has been reported to damage corn in Illinois.[5]

Myochrous denticollis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Coleoptera
Family:	Chrysomelidae
Genus:	Myochrous
Species:	M. denticollis
Binomial name
Myochrous denticollis (Say, 1824)
Synonyms
Colaspis denticollis Say, 1824

Adults are about 3/16 inch long and about a third as wide. They are colored dark brown and often covered with bits of soil. The thorax has three "teeth" on each lateral edge, after which the species is named (denticollis is Latin for "toothed-collar"). The beetles drop from their food plants to the ground and hide when they are disturbed, making them difficult to find.[6]

Southern corn leaf beetles overwinter as adults beneath the soil and plant debris and in clumps of some species of weeds. The adults emerge again in early spring, to feed on young weed hosts such as cocklebur, smartweed, and crabgrass as well as early-planted corn.[5]

Gallery

• 
  A corn plant completely destroyed by the southern corn leaf beetle (1915)

References

1. "Myochrous denticollis Report". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 2018-04-23.
2. "Myochrous denticollis species details". Catalogue of Life. Retrieved 2018-04-23.
3. "Myochrous denticollis". GBIF. Retrieved 2018-04-23.
4. "Myochrous denticollis Species Information". BugGuide.net. Retrieved 2018-04-23.
5. Steffey, Kevin (2002). "Southern Corn Leaf Beetles Are Right on Schedule". The Bulletin: Pest Management and Crop Development Information for Illinois (7): 74–75.
6. Kelly, E.O.G. (1915). "The Southern Corn Leaf-Beetle". Bulletin of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (221): 1–11.

Further reading

• Lobl, I.; Smetana, A., eds. (2013). Catalogue of Palaearctic Coleoptera, Volume 6: Chrysomeloidea. Apollo Books. ISBN 978-90-04-26091-7.