Taxonomy
- Adephaga
- Carabidae
- Lebia
- Lamprias
- Lebia cyanocephala
Common name
Blue Plunderer
Images
Source: Lech Borowiec
Description
Size: 5-7.5mm
Basic colour: Head and elytra bright metallic blue, pronotum orange.
Leg colour: Black with paler middle of tibiae and and base of femora.
Confusion species: Lebia chlorocephala
Basic colour: Head and elytra bright metallic blue, pronotum orange.
Leg colour: Black with paler middle of tibiae and and base of femora.
Confusion species: Lebia chlorocephala
Biology
Status: Very scarce. Local in southern England. Only recent records from Surrey.
UKBAP Species: Yes
Habitat: Dry sandy grasslands and heaths.
Host plant: Hypericum perforatum. This species parasitises the beetle Chrysolina hypericae which feeds on Hypericum perforatum (St. John's Wort).
Other notes: Elytra with straight sides, diverging to near apices; intervals punctured more strongly than the fine striae; outer intervals pubescent, partly obscuring the marginal pores.
UKBAP Species: Yes
Habitat: Dry sandy grasslands and heaths.
Host plant: Hypericum perforatum. This species parasitises the beetle Chrysolina hypericae which feeds on Hypericum perforatum (St. John's Wort).
Other notes: Elytra with straight sides, diverging to near apices; intervals punctured more strongly than the fine striae; outer intervals pubescent, partly obscuring the marginal pores.
Articles
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(2003), Belated records of Lebia cyanocephala (Linnaeus) (Carabidae) in Hertfordshire The Coleopterist 12(2):56
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(1998), Lebia cyanocephala (Linnaeus) (Carabidae) rediscovered, in Surrey The Coleopterist 7(1):17