Taxonomy
- Polyphaga
- Chrysomeloidea
- Chrysomelidae
- Plateumaris
- Plateumaris bracata
Images
Source: Roger Key
Source: Malcolm Greenwood
Description
Size: 8.5-11.5mm
Basic colour: Black with a green or violet reflection
Pattern colour: None
Number of spots: None
Pronotoum: As basic colour
Leg colour: Orange-red (as are antennae and abdomen)
Western Palaearctic (as far east as Kazakhstan and Siberia)
Biology
Status: Widely scattered in England and Wales, old records from Ireland, no records from Scotland. Scarce (Notable A)
Habitat: Reedbeds by/in lakes, canals, dykes and fens
Host plant: Common reed (Phragmites australis), larvae and cocoons also known from some sedges.
Overwintering: Unknown, though adults found in cocoons in October
Food: Adults on young leaf shoots of common reed, larvae on the rhizomes