Creature Feature Encyclopedia: Insecta

Waterlily Leaf Beetle Donacia spp. Length: .25-.5" (6-12 mm) Habitat: water lilies

The Water Lily Leaf Beetle is a slender, bronze insect with a green or yellow gloss to its shell. It lives on floating plants like the Fragrant Water Lily. The female cuts a tiny hole through the lily pad, and then cements the eggs to the underwater surface of the leaves. When the larvae hatch, they spin a shelter where they live for ten months before emerging as adults.

~Salamander Rain: A Lake and Pond Journal © 2001