''Aulacophora foveicollis'', the red pumpkin beetle, is a species of beetle in the family

Chrysomelidae The insects of the beetle family Chrysomelidae are commonly known as leaf beetles, and include over 37,000 (and probably at least 50,000) species in more than 2,500 genera, making up one of the largest and most commonly encountered of all beetle ...

. It is a foliar pest of members of the

Cucurbitaceae The Cucurbitaceae, also called cucurbits or the gourd family, are a plant family consisting of about 965 species in around 95 genera, of which the most important to humans are: *''Cucurbita'' – squash, pumpkin, zucchini, some gourds *'' Lagen ...

, particularly the

pumpkin A pumpkin is a vernacular term for mature winter squash of species and varieties in the genus ''Cucurbita'' that has culinary and cultural significance but no agreed upon botanical or scientific meaning. The term ''pumpkin'' is sometimes use ...

. It is also a pest of

millet Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Most species generally referred to as millets belong to the tribe Paniceae, but some millets a ...

s in India.

Description

The adult ''Aulacophora foveicollis'' measures in length and about in breadth. The colour of the

elytra An elytron (; ; , ) is a modified, hardened forewing of beetles (Coleoptera), though a few of the true bugs (Hemiptera) such as the family Schizopteridae are extremely similar; in true bugs, the forewings are called hemelytra (sometimes alterna ...

varies from pale orange-yellow to bright orange-red to medium brown, and the abdomen is black with soft white hairs. The grubs are found in the soil and are slender and creamy-yellow, with pale brown heads and prothorax.

Distribution

''A. foveicollis'' has a wide distribution across southern Europe, Asia, Australia and Africa. It is a serious pest of cucurbit crops in northwestern India.

Life cycle

In northern India, the beetles hibernate over winter, emerging in March. After mating the female lays batches of about eight eggs in the soil. The eggs are orange and oval and hatch in one to two weeks. The grubs at first feed on leaf debris, roots and parts of the host plant in contact with the soil. They pass through four moults as they grow, and

pupa A pupa ( la, pupa, "doll"; plural: ''pupae'') is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in thei ...

te in earthen chambers just below the surface of the soil. After a further week to two and a half weeks, the adult beetles emerge, climb the host plant and start feeding. The females start laying eggs within a week or so. There may be five generations over the course of the summer.

Biology

The beetles are most destructive in March and April while the plants are small. They feed on the leaves, buds and flowers and can defoliate the plants; the grubs bore into the roots and damage the stems and fruits that lie on the soil. ''A. foveicollis'' favours

(''Cucurbita maxima'') over other curcurbit crops, but will also feed on squash (''Cucurbita pepo''),

muskmelon ''Cucumis melo'', also known as melon, is a species of '' Cucumis'' that has been developed into many cultivated varieties. The fruit is a pepo. The flesh is either sweet or bland, with or without a musky aroma, and the rind can be smooth (such a ...

(''Cucumis melo''),

cucumber Cucumber (''Cucumis sativus'') is a widely-cultivated creeping vine plant in the Cucurbitaceae family that bears usually cylindrical fruits, which are used as culinary vegetables.watermelon Watermelon (''Citrullus lanatus'') is a flowering plant species of the Cucurbitaceae family and the name of its edible fruit. A scrambling and trailing vine-like plant, it is a highly cultivated fruit worldwide, with more than 1,000 varie ...

(''Citrullus lanatus'') and the sponge gourd (''Luffa aegyptiaca''). There are

extrafloral nectaries Nectar is a sugar-rich liquid produced by plants in glands called nectaries or nectarines, either within the flowers with which it attracts pollinating animals, or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to animal mutualis ...

on the sponge gourd which attract ants. The dominant species of ant in India and much of southeastern Asia is '' Camponotus compressus'', and the presence of ants on the crop plant has a deterrent effect on ''A. foveicollis''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q25096300, from2=Q2109636 foveicollis Agricultural pest insects Insect pests of millets Beetles described in 1849 Taxa named by Hippolyte Lucas