Chrysomela vigintipunctata

Chrysomela vigintipunctata or spotted willow leaf beetle (Russian: Двадцатиточечный листоед – translated as the 20-spotted leaf eater) is a species of broad-shouldered leaf beetle belonging to the family Chrysomelidae, subfamily Chrysomelinae.

Chrysomela vigintipunctata
Dorsal view
Lateral view
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Coleoptera
Family:
Chrysomelidae
Subfamily:
Chrysomelinae
Genus:
Chrysomela
Species:
C. vigintipunctata
Binomial name
Chrysomela vigintipunctata
Synonyms
  • Coccinella 20-punctata (Scopoli, 1763)
  • Melasoma vigintipunctatum (Scopoli, 1763)
  • Strickerus vigintipunctatus (Scopoli, 1763)

The length of the beetles varies from 6.5 to 9.2 mm. Both larvae and adults feed on the leaves of its host plants, especially Salicaceae species. Elytra usually are yellowish-green, with ten black spots on each side, while the head and the pronotum are black, with yellow sides.

Beetles live mostly in forests, along lakes, swamps and feed on willow and Populus.

They are found in most of Europe, Mongolia, Russian Far East and Japan. A single dead specimen was found, for the first time in Britain, at Southwold beach, east Suffolk on 26 May 2016. A search in suitable habitat for more specimens was unsuccessful.[1]

Images
  • larva
  • pupa
  • empty pupa
  • imago

References
  1. Wright, Richard (2016). "Beetles". British Wildlife. 28 (2): 133–5. ISSN 0958-0956.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.