Burrobrush Leaf Beetle
Leptinotarsa lineolata
Adults and larvae were both found together feeding on foliage of Burrobrush (Hymenoclea salsola) along Camp Creek, Maricopa County, Arizona, USA on 30 Aug. 2008.
Chrysomelidae -- Leaf Beetle Family
Burrobrush (Hymenoclea salsola) can become very abundant along washes and riparian zones when they are subjected to prolonged heavy grazing by cattle. Natural chemicals in the plant will sicken or deter feeding by cattle, but this leaf beetle has just the opposite response; it will not feed on any other type of plant at all. Most common in Upland Sonoran Desert habitats ranging into Sonora and Chihuahua, Mexico.
The adult beetles appear on the plants after the start of summer monsoon rains.
The larvae and adults can become quite numerous within a few weeks. Once cattle
are removed from rangelands insects such as these soon control the populations
of plants that have overtaken those that were grazed away by the cattle.