Allograpta obliqua (Say,1823)

Identification

                                                                                                                                               Copyright Ron Hemberger

Yellow katepimeron which forms a continuous yellow band from anepisternum to katatergum, yellow or light brown stripe on face and two narrow parallel yellow strips and two broader oval sublateral yellow markings present on the 4th and 5th terga (Miranda et al. 2013). They are very similar to Allograpta exotica but have yellow katepimeron and yellow anterior anepisternum rather than black (Vockeroth 1992).

Length: 5.4-9.0 mm (Vockeroth 1992)

Biology

They are multivoltine (Vockeroth 1992). Larvae of Allograpta oblique feed on aphids (Family: Aphididae)(Hardy 1964) and mealybugs (Family: Coccidae) (Vockeroth 1992).

Distribution

Almost all of the continental United States from Washington to Maine and into Quebec, Canada, southward to California and Florida; also Hawaii, Bermuda, Mexico, and parts of the neotropical Americas, including the West Indies (Vockeroth 1992).