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Psylliodes affinis

Taxonomy

  • Polyphaga
  • Chrysomeloidea
  • Chrysomelidae
  • Psylliodes
  • Psylliodes affinis
Common name
Potato Flea Beetle

Description

Size: 2.2-2.9mm
Basic colour: Yellowish
Pattern colour: Elytral suture and head darkened
Number of spots: None
Pronotoum: As basic colour
Leg colour: As basic colour; femora (especially hind) darkened

Palaearctic, including Morocco; introduced into Canada.

Biology

Status: Common and widespread, except Scotland (a single, unconfirmed record)
Habitat: Various
Host plant: various wild and cultivated Solanaceae
Overwintering: As adults
Food: Adults on leaves and potato stems (Haulms), early instar larvae are root-miners, final instar larvae feed externally on roots.

Distribution (may take a minute to appear)

Distribution Map

Psylliodes chalcomera

Taxonomy

  • Polyphaga
  • Chrysomeloidea
  • Chrysomelidae
  • Psylliodes
  • Psylliodes chalcomera

Description

Size: 2.6-3.4mm
Basic colour: Metallic blue or greenish-blue, sometimes bronze
Pattern colour: None
Number of spots: None
Other colour forms: Sometimes
Pronotoum: As basic colour
Leg colour: Reddish; hind femora darkened (compare with P. hyoscyami although this may be extinct in the UK)
Confusion species: Psylliodes hyoscyami

Palaearctic, including North Africa

Biology

Status: Widespread but local; rare in Scotland, no definite records for Ireland. Scarce (Notable B)
Habitat: Various
Host plant: Various Asteraceae, mainly thistles (Cirsium spp.)
Overwintering: As adults
Food: Adults on leaves; larvae in thistle buds and shoots, or as leaf-miners in the main vein.

Distribution (may take a minute to appear)

Distribution Map

Podagrica fuscipes

Taxonomy

  • Polyphaga
  • Chrysomeloidea
  • Chrysomelidae
  • Podagrica
  • Podagrica fuscipes
Common name
Mallow Flea Beetle

Description

Size: 3-6mm
Basic colour: Blue or bluish-green, sometimes bronze
Pattern colour: None
Number of spots: None
Other colour forms: Sometimes
Pronotoum: Reddish
Leg colour: At least partly black or dark brown

SW Palaearctic, including Algeria.

Biology

Status: Scattered and lery local in southern and eastern England and south wales; most records from around the Thames Estuary. Old records from Ireland; there is one from Scotland but this may be an error. Scarce (Notable A)
Habitat: Various
Host plant: Various Malvaceae (mallows)
Overwintering: As larvae (almost certainly not as adults)
Food: Adults on leaves, larvae at roots

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Distribution Map

Podagrica fuscicornis

Taxonomy

  • Polyphaga
  • Chrysomeloidea
  • Chrysomelidae
  • Podagrica
  • Podagrica fuscicornis

Description

Size: 3-6mm
Basic colour: Dark blue or bluish-green; rarely slightly metallic.
Pattern colour: None
Number of spots: None
Other colour forms: Rare
Pronotoum: Reddish (as is the head)
Leg colour: Yellowish to pale brown, occasionally red-brown with dark femora

Western Palaearctic, including North Africa.

Biology

Status: Local, mainly in southern & eastern England; rare in Wales, not recorded from Scotland or Ireland. Scarce (Notable B)
Habitat: Various
Host plant: Various Malvaceae (mallows)
Overwintering: Probably as larvae inside mallow roots
Food: Adults on leaves, larvae at roots
Other notes: In France, parasitised by the microsporidian Microsporidium sp.

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Plateumaris bracata

Taxonomy

  • Polyphaga
  • Chrysomeloidea
  • Chrysomelidae
  • Plateumaris
  • Plateumaris bracata

Description

Size: 8.5-11.5mm
Basic colour: Black with a green or violet reflection
Pattern colour: None
Number of spots: None
Pronotoum: As basic colour
Leg colour: Orange-red (as are antennae and abdomen)

Western Palaearctic (as far east as Kazakhstan and Siberia)

Biology

Status: Widely scattered in England and Wales, old records from Ireland, no records from Scotland. Scarce (Notable A)
Habitat: Reedbeds by/in lakes, canals, dykes and fens
Host plant: Common reed (Phragmites australis), larvae and cocoons also known from some sedges.
Overwintering: Unknown, though adults found in cocoons in October
Food: Adults on young leaf shoots of common reed, larvae on the rhizomes

Distribution (may take a minute to appear)

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Plateumaris rustica

Taxonomy

  • Polyphaga
  • Chrysomeloidea
  • Chrysomelidae
  • Plateumaris
  • Plateumaris rustica

Description

Size: 5-9mm
Basic colour: Males black with a weak purple/violet reflection; females pale coppery
Pattern colour: None
Number of spots: None
Pronotoum: As basic colour
Leg colour: Orange

Holarctic, including Algeria.

Biology

Status: Widespread and locally common (rarer in Scotland and Ireland), but overall Scarce (Notable B)
Habitat: Lake and canal margins
Host plant: Sedges (Carex spp.); adults also on bur-reeds (Sparganium spp.), irises and bogbean (Menyanthes trifoliate); larvae also on marsh-marigold (Caltha palustris)
Overwintering: Unknown
Food: Uncertain - adults on leaves and stems of sedges, and flowers of some other plants.

Distribution (may take a minute to appear)

Distribution Map

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