Chirp beetle

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Chirp beetle
Red-necked beetle (Oulema melanopus)

Red-necked beetle ( Oulema melanopus )

Systematics
Class : Insects (Insecta)
Order : Beetle (Coleoptera)
Subordination : Polyphaga
Superfamily : Chrysomeloidea
Family : Leaf beetles (Chrysomelidae)
Subfamily : Chirp beetle
Scientific name
Criocerinae
Latreille , 1807

The cherries (Criocerinae) are a subfamily within the family of leaf beetles (Chrysomelidae).

features

A typical feature of these beetles is the Zirporgan, which consists of a series of parallel cuticle ribs on the last visible abdomen tergit (the so-called pygidium ) and a field of cuticle teeth on the underside of the posterior angle of the wing cover seam. When the animals are restricted in their freedom of movement, they rhythmically rub the end of the abdomen on the underside of the wing covers, creating a chirping sound that has given the beetles their German name. This is also where the name "chicken" for the native species comes from. In English they are called " shiny beetles ", which refers to the metallic sheen of most of the tropical representatives of this subfamily.

They are small to medium-sized beetles that are usually between four and 12 millimeters long. The smallest species reach a body length of about three millimeters, the largest about 20 millimeters. Their body outline is consistently slender, the pronotum is noticeably narrower than the elytra, which creates real elytra-shoulders. The wing covers ( elytres ) are often metallic shimmering. Many species also have stripes or spots on the elytra.

Way of life

Like almost all leaf beetles, chirp beetles feed on green plant material . The natives are bound to monocot plants ( Liliaceae , Asparagaceae , Poales ) with the exception of one species ( Lema cyanella - thistle chicken ). They got their German trivial names after their typical feeding plants: lily chickens (genus Lilioceris ), asparagus chickens (genus Crioceris ), corn chickens (genus Oulema ). Typically the adults hibernate in the ground. In spring they appear as soon as their feeding plants sprout. The beetles first have to eat small amounts of leaf material in order for their gonads to mature. They mate on their feeding plants, where the females lay the eggs in rows or individually. In general, the native chirp beetles produce two generations a year. The beetles of the first generation only live a few weeks, those of the second overwinter.

In the tropics there are groups of species of this subfamily that are linked to Solanaceae , Convolvulaceae , Orchidaceae , Commelinaceae , Zingiberales and other groups of plants.

distribution

Species from the genus of the chirp beetle are widespread worldwide, and they are particularly species-rich in tropical regions.

Systematics

Around 1,400 species described so far worldwide are counted among the chirp beetles, in Central Europe there are 16 (depending on personal preference, some editors list up to 20 species for Central Europe). In Europe, the subfamily Criocerinae is represented with a total of 22 species in four genera.

Genus Crioceris

Genus Lema

Genus Lilioceris

Genus Oulema

The two native species of this genus are also known as corn- leaf beetles or grass-leaf beetles .

Other genera

Further genera have been described for species from outside Europe:

literature

  • Jiři Zahradník, Irmgard Jung, Dieter Jung et al .: Beetles of Central and Northwestern Europe. Parey Berlin 1985, ISBN 3-490-27118-1 .

Web links

Commons : Zirpkäfer  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

credentials

  1. ↑ Criocerinae. Fauna Europaea, Version 1.3, April 19, 2007 , accessed on July 9, 2007 .
  2. ↑ TN Seeno, JA Wilcox: Leaf Beetle Genera (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae). In: Entomography. 1, ISSN  0734-9874 , 1982, pp. 1-221.