Sweetpotato-pest

Guides

• Chaetocnema confinis

  sweetpotato flea beetle

  Chaetocnema confinis is a small flea beetle (Chrysomelidae: Alticinae) with a cosmopolitan distribution spanning Africa, the Caribbean, Central and North America, South America, Oceania, and Southern Asia. It is a significant agricultural pest of sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas), with adults feeding on foliage and larvae developing in soil to feed on tuberous roots. Larval feeding causes distinctive linear epidermal damage to storage roots, creating economic losses in commercial production. The species has been studied intensively in Japan, where seasonal damage patterns have been documented.

  agricultural-pestsweetpotato-pestflea-beetlesoil-insectroot-feedercosmopolitan-distributionChrysomelidaeAlticinaeJapanTanegashimaIpomoea-batatas

• Lygropia tripunctata

  sweetpotato leafroller

  Lygropia tripunctata, commonly known as the sweetpotato leafroller, is a small crambid moth described by Fabricius in 1794. The species is distributed across the southeastern United States, West Indies, Central America, and South America to Brazil. Adults are active primarily from March to October. The larvae feed on several Convolvulaceae species including sweetpotato (Ipomoea), making this species of agricultural significance.

  Crambidaeleafrolleragricultural-pestsweetpotato-pestFabricius-1794southeastern-USNeotropical