Leptinotarsa decemlineata

Adults and larvae are easily seen because of their large size. L. decemlineata has a tendency to release its hold on plants that are shaken and this characteristic can be used to detect insects hidden among foliage. Visual sampling of potato fields was as efficient for estimating population density as the whole-plant bag-sampling method, and more efficient than sweep netting (Senanayake and Holliday, 1988). Soil sampling at harvest for buried beetles in diapause provides reliable results in area surveys (Glez, 1983). A sequential sampling plan has been reported for estimating populations of Colorado potato beetle egg masses and of adults and larvae (Hamilton et al., 1997a).