Black Diabrotica

Diabrotica cristata · Order: Coleoptera · Family: Chrysomelidae

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Black Diabrotica
Photo: Judy Gallagher, CC BY-SA

The black diabrotica is a leaf-eating beetle that belongs to the Chrysomelidae family. It lives in North America.

Source: Wikipedia

How to recognize it

The black diabrotica is a leaf beetle in the Chrysomelidae family.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it comes from

It is found in North America.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it is found in the US

Recorded in 29 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Illinois, Ohio, Colorado, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Kansas, Texas, Pennsylvania.

Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.

Source: GBIF

Status: native in North America; native in Canada. Source: iNaturalist

Months it is reported in the US

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Source: GBIF

More photos

Black Diabrotica photo 2
Photo: Bill Keim, CC BY
Black Diabrotica photo 3
Photo: Judy Gallagher, CC BY-SA
Black Diabrotica photo 4
Photo: iNaturalist user, CC0
Black Diabrotica photo 5
Photo: Jared Shorma, CC BY

Questions people ask

Where is the black diabrotica found?

It is found in North America.

Source: Wikipedia

Same family (Chrysomelidae)

Spotted Cucumber BeetleSpotted Cucumber BeetleDiabrotica undecimpunctataDamages trees, gardens or cropsBean WeevilBean WeevilAcanthoscelides obtectusDamages trees, gardens or cropsCowpea WeevilCowpea WeevilCallosobruchus maculatusDamages trees, gardens or cropsSwamp Milkweed Leaf BeetleSwamp Milkweed Leaf BeetleLabidomera clivicollisDamages trees, gardens or cropsAlder Leaf BeetleAlder Leaf BeetleAgelastica alniDamages trees, gardens or cropsDogbane Leaf BeetleDogbane Leaf BeetleChrysochus auratus

Sources

  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diabrotica_cristata

Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia

Text written 2026-10-24 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-24.

How this page works

This is one bug's fact sheet. The colored box at the top says whether it is dangerous. Sections below cover how to recognize it, whether it is a pest, and how to deal with it. The US map shows which states have records; tap a state to see other bugs there.

Every fact on Bug FAQ comes from a named source (university extension sites, government agencies, GBIF, iNaturalist, Wikipedia). The source is linked next to each section. If we have no source for something, we leave it out.