Psylliodes cucullata
Size
2.1-2.4mm
Basic colour
Dark bronze
Pattern colour
None
Leg colour
Orange, hind femora darkened
Psylliodes chrysocephala
Size
3-4.5mm
Basic colour
Variable; usually metallic blue, var. anglica has elytra yellowish to pale brown; may have elytra metallic blue and pronotum yellowish to reddish.
Pattern colour
See basic colour
Leg colour
Orange-red, hind femora darkened.
Psylliodes cuprea
Taxonomy
- Polyphaga
- Chrysomeloidea
- Chrysomelidae
- Psylliodes
- Psylliodes cuprea
Description
Size: 2.3-4mm
Basic colour: Metallic green, bronze or blue
Pattern colour: None (note frons of head entirely as basic colour)
Number of spots: None
Pronotoum: As basic colour
Leg colour: Orange-red, hind femora darkened.
Basic colour: Metallic green, bronze or blue
Pattern colour: None (note frons of head entirely as basic colour)
Number of spots: None
Pronotoum: As basic colour
Leg colour: Orange-red, hind femora darkened.
Palaearctic, including the Middle East and North Africa
Biology
Status: Widely scattered
Habitat: Various
Host plant: Various Brassicaceae; also ash and oaks.
Overwintering: As adults in rubbish heaps.
Food: Adults on leaves (especially of seedlings), larvae are leaf- and stem-miners.
Habitat: Various
Host plant: Various Brassicaceae; also ash and oaks.
Overwintering: As adults in rubbish heaps.
Food: Adults on leaves (especially of seedlings), larvae are leaf- and stem-miners.
Distribution (may take a minute to appear)
Distribution Map
Psylliodes cucullata
Taxonomy
- Polyphaga
- Chrysomeloidea
- Chrysomelidae
- Psylliodes
- Psylliodes cucullata
Description
Size: 2.1-2.4mm
Basic colour: Dark bronze
Pattern colour: None
Number of spots: None
Pronotoum: As basic colour; conceals the head, distinguishing it from all other British Psylliodes except sometimes P. picina.
Leg colour: Orange, hind femora darkened
Basic colour: Dark bronze
Pattern colour: None
Number of spots: None
Pronotoum: As basic colour; conceals the head, distinguishing it from all other British Psylliodes except sometimes P. picina.
Leg colour: Orange, hind femora darkened
Palaearctic, possibly including North Africa and the Middle East; introduced into Canada.
Biology
Status: Uncertain; new to Britain in 1991 and known from a small number of locations in South Wales, but unlikely to be a recent introduction so may have been overlooked elsewhere.
Habitat: Woodland and arable fields.
Host plant: Possibly corn spurrey Spergula arvensis and/or various wild and cultivated grasses/cereals
Overwintering: As larvae in soil at around 20cm depth
Food: Adults on leaves and ears of grasses; larvae on rootlets. Could be a pest on some crops.
Habitat: Woodland and arable fields.
Host plant: Possibly corn spurrey Spergula arvensis and/or various wild and cultivated grasses/cereals
Overwintering: As larvae in soil at around 20cm depth
Food: Adults on leaves and ears of grasses; larvae on rootlets. Could be a pest on some crops.
Distribution (may take a minute to appear)
Distribution Map
Psylliodes chrysocephala
Taxonomy
- Polyphaga
- Chrysomeloidea
- Chrysomelidae
- Psylliodes
- Psylliodes chrysocephala
Common name
Cabbage-stem flea beetle
Description
Size: 3-4.5mm
Basic colour: Variable; usually metallic blue, var. anglica has elytra yellowish to pale brown; may have elytra metallic blue and pronotum yellowish to reddish.
Pattern colour: See basic colour
Number of spots: None
Other colour forms: Many and common
Pronotoum: See basic colour
Leg colour: Orange-red, hind femora darkened.
Basic colour: Variable; usually metallic blue, var. anglica has elytra yellowish to pale brown; may have elytra metallic blue and pronotum yellowish to reddish.
Pattern colour: See basic colour
Number of spots: None
Other colour forms: Many and common
Pronotoum: See basic colour
Leg colour: Orange-red, hind femora darkened.
Western Palaearctic, including Macaronesia, Cape Verde and North Africa; introduced into Canada.
Biology
Status: Common and widespread
Habitat: Various, wherever the host plants grow
Host plant: Various wild and cultivated Brassicaceae
Overwintering: Probably as adults and larvae
Food: Adults on leaves and possibly pollen. Larvae are stem-miners and can also be found in seed pods and leaf stalks (petioles)
Other notes: Larvae parasitised by various Hymenoptera. Adults also affected by fungal pathogens. Larvae parasitised by nematodes. Various other beetles (adults and larvae) predate eggs and larvae of this flea beetle.
Habitat: Various, wherever the host plants grow
Host plant: Various wild and cultivated Brassicaceae
Overwintering: Probably as adults and larvae
Food: Adults on leaves and possibly pollen. Larvae are stem-miners and can also be found in seed pods and leaf stalks (petioles)
Other notes: Larvae parasitised by various Hymenoptera. Adults also affected by fungal pathogens. Larvae parasitised by nematodes. Various other beetles (adults and larvae) predate eggs and larvae of this flea beetle.
Distribution (may take a minute to appear)
Distribution Map
Psylliodes dulcamarae
Taxonomy
- Polyphaga
- Chrysomeloidea
- Chrysomelidae
- Psylliodes
- Psylliodes dulcamarae
Description
Size: 3.1-4mm
Basic colour: Dark metallic blue
Pattern colour: None
Number of spots: None
Pronotoum: As basic colour
Leg colour: Dark brown (may have small amount of other colours)
Basic colour: Dark metallic blue
Pattern colour: None
Number of spots: None
Pronotoum: As basic colour
Leg colour: Dark brown (may have small amount of other colours)
Palaearctic
Biology
Status: Locally common south of the Humber Estuary, mainly coastal in Wales, an old record from Ireland, not recorded from Scotland.
Habitat: Various
Host plant: Bittersweet, Solanum dulcamara
Overwintering: As adults in reed litter
Food: Adults on leaves, larvae within stems
Habitat: Various
Host plant: Bittersweet, Solanum dulcamara
Overwintering: As adults in reed litter
Food: Adults on leaves, larvae within stems
Distribution (may take a minute to appear)
Distribution Map
Psylliodes chalcomera
Size
2.6-3.4mm
Basic colour
Metallic blue or greenish-blue, sometimes bronze
Pattern colour
None
Leg colour
Reddish; hind femora darkened (compare with P. hyoscyami although this may be extinct in the UK)
Psylliodes attenuata
RDB Category
Endangered (RDB1)
Size
2-2.8mm
Basic colour
Metallic green or bronze
Pattern colour
Tips of elytra usually reddish-brown, but may be entirely as the basic colour
Leg colour
Red-brown, hind femora darkened
Psylliodes affinis
Size
2.2-2.9mm
Basic colour
Yellowish
Pattern colour
Elytral suture and head darkened
Leg colour
As basic colour; femora (especially hind) darkened
Psylliodes attenuata
Taxonomy
- Polyphaga
- Chrysomeloidea
- Chrysomelidae
- Psylliodes
- Psylliodes attenuata
Common name
Hop Flea Beetle
Description
Size: 2-2.8mm
Basic colour: Metallic green or bronze
Pattern colour: Tips of elytra usually reddish-brown, but may be entirely as the basic colour
Number of spots: See pattern
Other colour forms: Sometimes
Pronotoum: As basic colour
Leg colour: Red-brown, hind femora darkened
Basic colour: Metallic green or bronze
Pattern colour: Tips of elytra usually reddish-brown, but may be entirely as the basic colour
Number of spots: See pattern
Other colour forms: Sometimes
Pronotoum: As basic colour
Leg colour: Red-brown, hind femora darkened
Palaearctic
Biology
Status: Widely scattered - England and Wales only, mainly SE England. Endangered (RDB1)
RDB Category: Endangered (RDB1)
Habitat: Cultivated land (mainly hop fields and field margins), also woodland
Host plant: Various Cannabaceae, mainly hops, also hemp. Sometimes on nettles.
Overwintering: As adults in old hop 'bines' (climbing shoots/stems), cracks in hop poles, sandy soil, and grass tussocks.
Food: Adults n hop leaves, flowers and cones (they may skeletonise leaves) and on nettles; early instar larvae are miners, forming fine galleries in roots and root-necks; later instar larvae are soil-dwelling and feed on roots.
Other notes: Adults parasitised by braconid wasps Periltius cerealium, P. labilis & P. bicolor.
RDB Category: Endangered (RDB1)
Habitat: Cultivated land (mainly hop fields and field margins), also woodland
Host plant: Various Cannabaceae, mainly hops, also hemp. Sometimes on nettles.
Overwintering: As adults in old hop 'bines' (climbing shoots/stems), cracks in hop poles, sandy soil, and grass tussocks.
Food: Adults n hop leaves, flowers and cones (they may skeletonise leaves) and on nettles; early instar larvae are miners, forming fine galleries in roots and root-necks; later instar larvae are soil-dwelling and feed on roots.
Other notes: Adults parasitised by braconid wasps Periltius cerealium, P. labilis & P. bicolor.