Cereal leaf beetle, Oulema melanopus (L.), is best known as an introduced pest of cereal crops such as wheat, barley, oats, rye and various grass crops such as Timothy hay, perennial rye, brome, and sudangrass. Their wide host range also includes reports of their occurence on the ornamental grass, Calamagrostis. One nursery in Oregon has reported cereal leaf beetle feeding on Calamagrostis planted adjacent to a nearby wheat field.
Both the larval and adult stages of these leaf beetles can feed on their grass hosts. Currently only the adult beetles have been found on the ornamental grasses, thought to have moved over with the harvest of the adjacent wheat crop.
Web Resources:
OSU Extension: Cereal Leaf Beetle This site has useful information on biology and life stages as well as images of the larval stage. Keep in mind that the monitoring, thresholds, and management information have been developed for cereal crops rather than ornamental grasses.
Original version: <9 August 2011)
Last revision <11 August 2016>
Author: R.L. Rosetta, Extension Nursery Integrated Pest Management, Department of Horticulture, Oregon State University
