Three-Lined Potato Beetle vs Macropis Cuckoo Bee

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Three-Lined Potato Beetle Macropis Cuckoo Bee
Scientific Name Lema daturaphila Epeoloides coecutiens
Order Coleoptera Hymenoptera
Family Chrysomelidae Melittidae
Size 6-7 mm 7-10 mm
Habitat Farmland Farmland
Diet Herbivores Parasites
Regions North America Europe, Eastern North America
Conservation Least Concern Endangered

Three-Lined Potato Beetle

A yellow-orange leaf beetle with three black stripes, resembling a smaller Colorado potato beetle. It feeds on tomatillos, ground cherries, and related plants.

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Did You Know?

Like cereal leaf beetle larvae, its larvae pile their own excrement on their backs as a defensive shield.

Macropis Cuckoo Bee

A rare cleptoparasitic bee that targets nests of Macropis oil-collecting bees. It was once thought extinct in North America before being rediscovered in Nova Scotia in 2002.

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Did You Know?

Its dramatic rediscovery in North America after decades of presumed extinction made international conservation news.