Striped Cucumber Beetle vs Dock Sawfly

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Striped Cucumber Beetle Dock Sawfly
Scientific Name Acalymma vittatum Ametastegia glabrata
Order Coleoptera Hymenoptera
Family Chrysomelidae Tenthredinidae
Size 5-6 mm 5-7 mm
Habitat Farmland Farmland
Diet Fruit Feeders Herbivores
Regions North America Europe, introduced to North America
Conservation Not Evaluated Least Concern

Striped Cucumber Beetle

A yellow beetle with three black stripes that specializes on cucurbit crops. It is a major vector of bacterial wilt and squash mosaic virus.

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Did You Know?

Adults are strongly attracted to cucurbitacin, a bitter compound in wild cucurbits, which they use to find host plants.

Dock Sawfly

A small, shiny dark green to black sawfly with pale legs. Larvae are pale green caterpillar-like grubs that feed on dock and sorrel leaves.

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Did You Know?

In North America, dock sawfly larvae sometimes bore into apples to pupate, making them a nuisance pest in orchards despite not actually feeding on the fruit.