Family: Chrysomelidae
Subfamily: Chrysomelinae
Length: 7.5-9.5 mm
American Elm historically has been the most common host species of this attractive beetle. The beetle was once quite common, but Dutch Elm Disease has reduced the numbers of that host plant and thus of the beetle as well.
Fortunately, Elm Calligrapha is willing to use alternate hosts, including Slippery Elm and species of Willow and Linden.
Right: This Calligrapha scalaris is resting next to a small wasp.
This species has occasionally appeared in great numbers, as in a 1946 outbreak in Kansas where an estimated 75,000 Calligrapha scalaris were on a single Elm tree.
The genus Calligrapha has an interesting life history as pertains to reproduction. Some species lack males entirely and reproduce by parthenogenesis. In certain other species, some colonies lack males while others are sexually balanced, while in still other colonies the numbers are heavily skewed in favor of females.
In Calligrapha scalaris, there are reports of a colony at Manhattan, Kansas, where only females are present and their reproduction produces only females (Robertson, 1966).
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