Latin Name:  Gonioctena americana Schaeffer, 1924
                        (R. Bercha, det.)

Length:  5 to 6  mm

Range: Throughout Alberta

Habitat:  Near trembling aspen

Time of year seen:  May to mid-July

Diet: Trembling Aspen

Other:  Adult beetles hibernate over the winter and emerge in late spring once the trembling aspen have developed most of their foliage.  The adults feed on the edges of the leaves leaving a notched pattern.  After mating the females lay clusters of eggs on the bottom side of the leaves.  The larva emerge shortly after and begin feeding.  They mature in 3 to 4 weeks and drop off the tree to pupate in the soil or underlying leaf litter.  A short time later the Adults emerge and feed on the aspen for short time before searching out places to over winter.  (Ives et al, 1988)