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Xanthogaleruca luteola

Size
5.5-7mm
Basic colour
Yellowish
Pattern colour
Head with a dark spot (females) or transverse band (males). Elytra with a dark longitudinal band starting at the shoulder, and often a shorter 'smudged' line between this and the suture..
Leg colour
As basic colour

Xanthogaleruca luteola

Taxonomy

  • Polyphaga
  • Chrysomeloidea
  • Chrysomelidae
  • Xanthogaleruca
  • Xanthogaleruca luteola
Common name
Elm leaf beetle

Description

Size: 5.5-7mm
Basic colour: Yellowish
Pattern colour: Head with a dark spot (females) or transverse band (males). Elytra with a dark longitudinal band starting at the shoulder, and often a shorter 'smudged' line between this and the suture..
Number of spots: See pattern & pronotum
Pronotoum: Three variable dark spots, the middle one often roughly hourglass-shaped, the side ones simpler and sometimes fainter.
Leg colour: As basic colour

A minor pest of elms in continental Europe.

Biology

Status: Occasional specimens (the first in 1978), but not established.
Habitat: Not established, but presumably anywhere that the host exists. Currently most likely to be individual/small numbers of accidentally imported specimens.
Host plant: Elms (Ulmus spp.)
Overwintering: Unlikely in the UK.
Food: Unknown (adults presumably on leaves)
Other notes: For more on its separation from Galerucella, see: Buckland, P.C. & Skidmore, P. (1999). Xanthogaleruca luteola (Muller) (Chrysomelidae) in Britain. The Coleopterist 8: 97-99.

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Smaragdina affinis

Taxonomy

  • Polyphaga
  • Chrysomeloidea
  • Chrysomelidae
  • Smaragdina
  • Smaragdina affinis

Description

Size: 2.5-4mm
Basic colour: Elytra dark blue
Pattern colour: See pronotum
Number of spots: None
Pronotoum: dark blue with sides broadly orange-red to red-brown
Leg colour: Orange-red to red-brown

Western Palaearctic.

In 2010, a single male S. salicina was taken from hedgerow/scrub on a sloping chalk grassland in Buckinghamshire (Hubble & Murray 2011) and is easily distinguished as the pronotum is entirely red-brown. The specimen is know with the Oxford University Museum of Natural History.

Hubble, D. & Murray, D. (2011). First British record of Smaragdina salicina (Scopoli, 1763) (Chrysomelidae). The Coleopterist 20(1): 1-3.

Biology

Status: A few records from Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire between 1899 and 1965. Endangered (RDB1)
RDB Category: Endangered (RDB1)
Habitat: Broadleaved woodland and marshy thickets near rivers.
Host plant: Hazels, sometimes birches.
Overwintering: Unknown
Food: Adults probably on leaves, larval feeding more uncertain - possibly in leaf litter and/or within ant-nests.

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Sermylassa halensis

Taxonomy

  • Polyphaga
  • Chrysomeloidea
  • Chrysomelidae
  • Sermylassa
  • Sermylassa halensis

Description

Size: 5-7mm
Basic colour: Elytra metallic green or blue, rarely coppery.
Pattern colour: None
Number of spots: One large dark spot on top of the head
Other colour forms: Rare
Pronotoum: Yellow-brown to orangey
Leg colour: Yellow-brown to orangey

Western Palaearctic.

Biology

Status: Widespread in England and Wales, rare in Scotland and Ireland.
Habitat: Various
Host plant: Bedstraws (Galium spp.) and calamints (Clinopodium spp.)
Overwintering: As eggs and probably also as adults in milder areas.
Food: Adults on leaves, larvae on leaves and stems.
Other notes: Larvae and pupae parasitised by the carabid ground beetle Lebia chlorocephala, the adults of which may also predate larvae.

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Sphaeroderma testaceum

Taxonomy

  • Polyphaga
  • Chrysomeloidea
  • Chrysomelidae
  • Sphaeroderma
  • Sphaeroderma testaceum

Description

Size: 2.5-4.5mm
Basic colour: Yellowish, reddish or brownish.
Pattern colour: None
Number of spots: None
Pronotoum: As basic colour
Leg colour: As basic colour
Confusion species: Sphaeroderma rubidum

Western Palaearctic, including Tunisia, Malta & Cyprus.

Biology

Status: Widespread and common.
Habitat: Various
Host plant: Various Asteraceae, especially thistles.
Overwintering: As 3rd (final) instar larvae, sometimes as adults in grass tussocks.
Food: Adults on leaves and possibly pollen, larvae within leaves.
Other notes: Oval from above. Pronotal front angles slightly (often subtly) more prominent than in S. rubidum. Pronotal punctures coarser at the rear than at the front.

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Sphaeroderma rubidum

Taxonomy

  • Polyphaga
  • Chrysomeloidea
  • Chrysomelidae
  • Sphaeroderma
  • Sphaeroderma rubidum

Description

Size: 2.3-3.1mm
Basic colour: Pale rusty- or orange-red
Pattern colour: None
Number of spots: None
Pronotoum: As basic colour
Leg colour: As basic colour
Confusion species: Sphaeroderma testaceum

Western Palaearctic, including Macaronesia and North Africa.

Biology

Status: Widespread and common, except central & northern Scotland
Habitat: Various
Host plant: Various Asteraceae; sometimes on trees.
Overwintering: As larvae (in soil at about 3cm depth), occasionally (but not usually) as adults in moss and grass tussocks.
Food: Adults on leaves (mainly knapweeds, Centaurea spp.); early-instar larvae mine primary & secondary leaf-veins, later-instar larvae feed on the entire leaf tissue between the upper & lower epidermis. Larvae may be able to develop in the flowers of globe artichokes (Cynara cardunculus).
Other notes: Almost circular from above. Front angles of pronotum not prominent. Pronotal punctures very fine, sometimes appearing almost absent. Hibernating larvae and spring pupae predated by several carabid beetle species.

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