Leaf Beetle

5652   This is an odd bug that I constantly find on the screen door and sliding door of my cabin on the water, in Osoyoos, BC. Canada’s only desert. I’m not sure where they come from, but they re-appear nearly as fast as I can kill or get rid of them, at all times of day, but there’s never more than 2-3 at a time, even if I leave them alone. There quite small, as you can see it sitting on the screen door mesh in the background. I’m not sure if they fly or not. Sometimes when I brush them or blow them off they fall to the ground. Other times they flutter to the ground, but don’t fly away. They don’t do anything that I know of, I just don’t enjoy them spending there time here.

This is a leaf beetle (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae); it looks like an elm leaf beetle, Xanthogaleruca luteola, see http://tinyurl.com/z9zbzd6 for more information. Ed Saugstad, retired entomologist; Sinks Grove, WV.