Where do flea beetles come from?
Aphthona flea beetles are natives of Europe and Asia, and are widely dispersed across a large geographic area theyre found as far east as China and as far west as France. There is also a North American leafy spurge flea beetle, but it appears to have relatively little impact on leafy spurge. Ironically, leafy spurge is generally not a problem in its native lands, where flea beetles and other enemies maintain infestations at economically unimportant levels. In fact, entomologists looking for new biocontrol agents overseas often have difficulty finding large patches of spurge.
