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A simple, inexpensive, permanent method for individually marking Colorado potato beetle is presented. The method consists of puncturing the elytra within the cream-colored longitudinal bands using a minuten nadeln; the wound response produces intense melanization at the point of puncture. Division of a band into three zones, each potentially receiving a dot, produces an octal digit. If all eight bands are employed, more than 16 million beetles can be uniquely marked. No significant survival effects of marking were seen in teneral, post-teneral, or post-diapause adult beetles. Propensity to fly in mid-summer beetles was generally unaffected by marking. Probabilities of mismarking and misreading are negligible if sufficient care is employed.
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Unruh et al. (1993) studied this question.
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