Taxonomy
- Polyphaga
- Chrysomeloidea
- Chrysomelidae
- Phyllotreta
- Phyllotreta undulata
Common name
Lesser striped flea beetle
Images
Source: Lech Borowiec
Description
Size: 2-2.8mm
Basic colour: Yellow and black
Pattern colour: Elytra with longitudinal yellow bands
Number of spots: None
Pronotoum: Black, sometimes with faint metallic sheen
Leg colour: As basic colour (femora dark, tibiae & tarsi partly pale)
Confusion species: Phyllotreta nemorum
Basic colour: Yellow and black
Pattern colour: Elytra with longitudinal yellow bands
Number of spots: None
Pronotoum: Black, sometimes with faint metallic sheen
Leg colour: As basic colour (femora dark, tibiae & tarsi partly pale)
Confusion species: Phyllotreta nemorum
Palaearctic, possibly including Algeria; introduced into North America, Oceania, Australia and New Zealand.
Biology
Status: Common and widespread
Habitat: Various
Host plant: Various wild and cultivated Brassicaceae, sometimes also wild mignonette (Reseda luteola), sea beet (Beta vulgaris ssp. maritima) and nasturtium (Tropaeolium majus); occasionally on trees.
Overwintering: As adults in haystacks and associated refuse, grass tussocks, under bark, in moss and in rotting logs.
Food: Adults on leaves and possibly pollen, larvae in roots
Other notes: Adults parasitised by braconid wasps Perilitus areolatus & P. bicolor, the microspridian Nosema phyllotretae and the nematode Howardula phyllotretae,
Habitat: Various
Host plant: Various wild and cultivated Brassicaceae, sometimes also wild mignonette (Reseda luteola), sea beet (Beta vulgaris ssp. maritima) and nasturtium (Tropaeolium majus); occasionally on trees.
Overwintering: As adults in haystacks and associated refuse, grass tussocks, under bark, in moss and in rotting logs.
Food: Adults on leaves and possibly pollen, larvae in roots
Other notes: Adults parasitised by braconid wasps Perilitus areolatus & P. bicolor, the microspridian Nosema phyllotretae and the nematode Howardula phyllotretae,