Taxonomy
- Polyphaga
- Chrysomeloidea
- Chrysomelidae
- Cryptocephalus
- Cryptocephalus biguttatus
Images
Source: Lech Borowiec
Description
Size: 4.5-6.0mm
Basic colour: Black
Pattern colour: Orange-yellow apical spot covering one tenth to one third of the elytra
Number of spots: 1 main apical spot; sometimes a second very small spot slightly forward of this.
Spot fusions: Common
Pronotoum: Black
Leg colour: Black
Confusion species: Cryptocephalus bipunctatus
Basic colour: Black
Pattern colour: Orange-yellow apical spot covering one tenth to one third of the elytra
Number of spots: 1 main apical spot; sometimes a second very small spot slightly forward of this.
Spot fusions: Common
Pronotoum: Black
Leg colour: Black
Confusion species: Cryptocephalus bipunctatus
Biology
Status: Rare, listed as RDB2 'Vulnerable'
Habitat: Wet heathland, bogs, moorlands and commons
Host plant: Cross-leaved heath (Erica tetralix); may be found on other nearby plant species, though probably accidental.
Overwintering: Unknown
Food: Cross-leaved heath
Other notes: Very similar to C. bipunctatus var. thomsoni and requires close examination to separate them. Historically, a number of records of C. biguttatus have been shown to actually be C. bipunctatus var. thomsoni. Easily distinguished from the common form of C. bipunctatus. See Mann & Barclay (2009) and the correction on p.38 of The Coleopterist 19(1) (2010) for more on this.
Habitat: Wet heathland, bogs, moorlands and commons
Host plant: Cross-leaved heath (Erica tetralix); may be found on other nearby plant species, though probably accidental.
Overwintering: Unknown
Food: Cross-leaved heath
Other notes: Very similar to C. bipunctatus var. thomsoni and requires close examination to separate them. Historically, a number of records of C. biguttatus have been shown to actually be C. bipunctatus var. thomsoni. Easily distinguished from the common form of C. bipunctatus. See Mann & Barclay (2009) and the correction on p.38 of The Coleopterist 19(1) (2010) for more on this.
Articles
-
(2010), Cryptocephalus biguttatus (Scopoli) (Chrysomelidae) rediscovered in Surrey VC 17 The Coleopterist 19(2):99
-
(2009),
The identification and distribution of Cryptocephalus biguttatus (Scoploi) and C. bipunctatus (Linnaeus) var. thomsoni Weise (Chrysomelidae) in Britain
The Coleopterist 18(3):166