Taxonomy
- Polyphaga
- Chrysomeloidea
- Chrysomelidae
- Altica
- Altica lythri
Images
Source: Roger Key
Source: Malcolm Storey / BioImages
Description
Size: 4.5-5.5mm
Basic colour: Metallic purple-blue or blue, usually not very shiny. Sometimes greenish, rarely black.
Pattern colour: None
Number of spots: None
Other colour forms: Sometimes
Pronotoum: As basic colour
Leg colour: As basic colour
Confusion species: Altica brevicollis
Basic colour: Metallic purple-blue or blue, usually not very shiny. Sometimes greenish, rarely black.
Pattern colour: None
Number of spots: None
Other colour forms: Sometimes
Pronotoum: As basic colour
Leg colour: As basic colour
Confusion species: Altica brevicollis
Biology
Status: Fairly common in England and Wales, rare in Scotland and Ireland.
Habitat: Various, mainly damp near waterbodies.
Host plant: Mainly Onagraceae (willowherb family); also a range of others.
Overwintering: Adults hibernate in tussocks, reed litter, moss, dead wood and bulrush leaf-sheaths.
Food: Onagraceae: adults feed on leaves and petals, larvae feed on apical leaves.
Other notes: May be found with A. palustris.
Habitat: Various, mainly damp near waterbodies.
Host plant: Mainly Onagraceae (willowherb family); also a range of others.
Overwintering: Adults hibernate in tussocks, reed litter, moss, dead wood and bulrush leaf-sheaths.
Food: Onagraceae: adults feed on leaves and petals, larvae feed on apical leaves.
Other notes: May be found with A. palustris.