Taxonomy
- Polyphaga
- Chrysomeloidea
- Chrysomelidae
- Macroplea
- Macroplea appendiculata
Images
Source: Roger Key
Description
Size: 6-7.5mm
Basic colour: Blackish and orange-yellow to orange-brown
Pattern colour: Elytra with thin alternating longitudinal lines of black and the base colour
Number of spots: See pronotum
Pronotoum: Basic colour, with a pair of longitudinally elongate dark marks
Leg colour: As basic colour, tarsi at least partly darkened.
Confusion species: Macroplea mutica
Basic colour: Blackish and orange-yellow to orange-brown
Pattern colour: Elytra with thin alternating longitudinal lines of black and the base colour
Number of spots: See pronotum
Pronotoum: Basic colour, with a pair of longitudinally elongate dark marks
Leg colour: As basic colour, tarsi at least partly darkened.
Confusion species: Macroplea mutica
Palaearctic, including Siberia and Algeria.
Biology
Status: Widely scattered but Rare (RDB3). Has declined in some areas, especially Scotland.
RDB Category: Rare (RDB3)
Habitat: Canals, rivers, lakes, drainage channels/dykes
Host plant: Various water plants, especially alternate water-milfoil (Myriophyllum alterniflorum) and fennel pondweed (Potamogeton pectinatus).
Overwintering: As pupae and recently emerged adults inside cocoons.
Food: Larvae feed gregariously underwater at roots among mud; adults persumably on leaves, although they rarely emerge from the water.
Other notes: Spine at end of elytra usually thinner and more sharply pointed than in M. mutica. Dissection of aedeagus may be required to comfirm identification.
RDB Category: Rare (RDB3)
Habitat: Canals, rivers, lakes, drainage channels/dykes
Host plant: Various water plants, especially alternate water-milfoil (Myriophyllum alterniflorum) and fennel pondweed (Potamogeton pectinatus).
Overwintering: As pupae and recently emerged adults inside cocoons.
Food: Larvae feed gregariously underwater at roots among mud; adults persumably on leaves, although they rarely emerge from the water.
Other notes: Spine at end of elytra usually thinner and more sharply pointed than in M. mutica. Dissection of aedeagus may be required to comfirm identification.