Broad willow leaf beetle
| Broad willow leaf beetle | ||||||||||||
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Broad willow leaf beetle ( Plagiodera versicolora ) |
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| Plagiodera versicolora | ||||||||||||
| ( Laicharting , 1781) |
The broad willow leaf beetle ( Plagiodera versicolora ) is a beetle from the family of leaf beetles (Chrysomelidae). It is the only one of its kind in Europe.
features
The animals reach a body length of 2.5 to 4.5 millimeters. Their bodies are metallic blue or blue-green, rarely green, or shiny copper, almost round and only slightly arched. The ventral side is black to black-green in color. The first five and occasionally six antenna segments are mainly light, the others are dark. The legs are black-brown, the tarsi brown. The narrow and wide pronotum is finely dotted and bordered on all sides. The upper wings have a clearly recognizable shoulder bulge, behind which there is an elongated indentation. The wings are also irregularly punctured, but stronger than on the pronotum. The epipleurs are clearly curved downwards.
Occurrence
The species is widespread in the Palearctic and is also found in the far north of Europe. They can also be found in the Nearctic and in some places in the Oriental . In England and Ireland the species occurs only locally. The species inhabits willows and , more rarely, poplars from the plains to the mountains. It can be observed from spring to autumn.
Way of life
The larvae feed on the leaves of their host plants, and pupation also takes place on the leaves. Two to three generations are trained every year.
swell
Individual evidence
- ↑ Plagiodera. Fauna Europaea, accessed February 2, 2009 .
literature
- Karl Wilhelm Harde, Frantisek Severa and Edwin Möhn: The Kosmos Käferführer: The Central European Beetles. Franckh-Kosmos Verlags-GmbH & Co KG, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-440-06959-1 .
- Jiři Zahradnik, Irmgard Jung, Dieter Jung et al .: Beetles of Central and Northwestern Europe. Parey, Berlin 1985, ISBN 3-490-27118-1 .
