''Chrysolina fastuosa'', also known as the dead-nettle leaf beetle,
is a species of
beetle from a family of
Chrysomelidae
The insects of the beetle family Chrysomelidae are commonly known as leaf beetles, and include over 37,000 (and probably at least 50,000) species in more than 2,500 genera, making up one of the largest and most commonly encountered of all beetle ...
found in
Europe,
Caucasus and northern
Turkey.
Description
The species has a length ranging from . ''C. fastuosa'' has a gold shine that transitions to a green or violet-blue longitudinal stripe near the shoulder band of the
elytra as well as near the suture. Occasionally, specimen of ''C. fastuosa'' may be completely green or black in colour.
Ecology
Adults and larvae of ''C. fastuosa'' feed on various plants in the family
Lamiaceae
The Lamiaceae ( )
or Labiatae are a family of flowering plants commonly known as the mint, deadnettle or sage family. Many of the plants are aromatic in all parts and include widely used culinary herbs like basil, mint, rosemary, sage, savory ...
, including hemp-nettle (''
Galeopsis'') and dead-nettle (''
Lamium''). It is also known from common nettle (''
Urtica dioica''), which is in family
Urticaceae. Adults and larvae graze on leaves, while larvae may also be found in fruiting
calyxes.
Larvae are parasitised by the
tachinid fly ''
Macquartia grisea
''Macquartia grisea'' is a European species of fly in the family Tachinidae.
Ecology
''Macquartia grisea'' is an endoparasitoid of the leaf beetle ''Chrysolina fastuosa''.
Distribution
British Isles, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Sl ...
''.
References
External links
*
Beetles described in 1763
Chrysomelinae
Articles containing video clips
Taxa named by Giovanni Antonio Scopoli
{{Chrysomelinae-stub