Knowledgebase
A bug I've never seen before. #353263
Asked August 15, 2016, 12:27 PM EDT
Cass County Minnesota
Expert Response
The "bug" in your photo is a type of leaf beetle in the genus Calligrapha, and the beetle family Chrysomelidae. There are three species of Calligrapha in the ne US which have almost this same coloration and pattern of spots on the elytra. The spotting pattern a can be somewhat variable, and in many cases, the only reliable way to tell which species it is, is by knowing which host plant they are feeding on. Calligrapha confluens feeds on alder, C. ignota feeds on birch, and C. scalaris feeds on elm. Both the adults and larvae of these beetles feed on the leaves, leaving holes and skeletonization. They are seldom abundant enough to cause any significant damage to the trees. I have included some links below to webpages with photos of these three beetles, and you can see how similar they all are.
http://bugguide.net/node/view/483435
