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Why is there not more written about this family of darling little beetles? Something like 80 species and subspecies of leaf beetles in the genus Calligrapha roam from Canada to Argentina, each one uniquely striped, splashed, or spotted black against a vividly colored, often red, green, or gold, background. They are sometimes pestiferous and their voracious eating can decimate young plants, so I see occasional notes about pest control, but…behavior? Reproduction? Common names? There are no common names for this beautiful beetle?

Florida is home to three species of Calligrapha. Bidenticola and cephalanthi are striped, not spotted, so this is likely a Calligrapha floridana.

Calligrapha has several female-only species, but unfortunately I’m not sure which ones those are.

I was desperate for this to be a globemallow leaf beetle, Calligrapha serpentina, because globemallow is the most wonderful, evocative word; but, alas, I am in the wrong part of the country (serpina is a native of the southwestern US).

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