''Chrysomela populi'' is a species of broad-shouldered leaf beetle belonging to the family

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 ...

, subfamily

Chrysomelinae The Chrysomelinae are a subfamily of leaf beetles (Chrysomelidae), commonly known as broad-bodied leaf beetles or broad-shouldered leaf beetles. It includes some 3,000 species around the world. The best-known member is the notorious Colorado pot ...

Distribution

This species is one of the most widespread and frequent species of leaf beetles from the subfamily

. These beetles can be found in most of Europe (

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

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Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

), in the

Palearctic realm The Palearctic or Palaearctic is the largest of the eight biogeographic realms of the Earth. It stretches across all of Eurasia north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. The realm consists of several bioregions: the Euro-Sibe ...

and in the

Oriental realm The Indomalayan realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms. It extends across most of South and Southeast Asia and into the southern parts of East Asia. Also called the Oriental realm by biogeographers, Indomalaya spreads all over the Ind ...

(

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Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...

, Far East of

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and

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

). Urban, J
Occurrence, bionomics and harmfulness of Chrysomela populi L. (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae
''Journal of Forest Science''. — 2006. — Vol. 52, no. 6 Chrysomela populi MF

Habitat

These beetles mainly inhabit coniferous, mixed and broad-leaved forests, forest fringes and dry meadows with poplars and willow trees.

Description

Larva description

The

larva A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. The ...

e of the species is white or light grey coloured with black dots.

Adult description

''Chrysomela populi'' can reach a length of about 9–13 mm.UK Safari
/ref> The female is slightly larger than the male. These beetles show a black, dark blue or dark green body, that is round and ladybird-like. Head and

pronotum The prothorax is the foremost of the three segments in the thorax of an insect, and bears the first pair of legs. Its principal sclerites (exoskeletal plates) are the pronotum (dorsal), the prosternum (ventral), and the propleuron (lateral) on ea ...

are black, while

elytra An elytron (; ; , ) is a modified, hardened forewing of beetles (Coleoptera), though a few of the true bugs (Hemiptera) such as the family Schizopteridae are extremely similar; in true bugs, the forewings are called hemelytra (sometimes alterna ...

is bright red, with a black stain at the base. Some beetles come as orange coloured. It can be distinguished from '' Chrysolina grossa'' by its shorter antennae and less estensive pronotum. It is also rather similar to '' Chrysomela saliceti'' and '' Chrysomela tremula''.

Biology

Adults can be found from April to October. Females lay eggs in Spring, in small, irregular clusters of up to 20-30 eggs. This species has 2 to 3 generations per year. Larvae of the last generation overwinter in the litter under the leaves. Both the larvae and the beetles live and feed on young leaves of various plants of the

Salicaceae The Salicaceae is the willow family of flowering plants. The traditional family (Salicaceae ''sensu stricto'') included the willows, poplar, aspen, and cottonwoods. Genetic studies summarized by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG) have greatly ...

species, especially ''

Populus ''Populus'' is a genus of 25–30 species of deciduous flowering plants in the family Salicaceae, native to most of the Northern Hemisphere. English names variously applied to different species include poplar (), aspen, and cottonwood. The we ...

'' and ''

willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist s ...

'' species. Bukejs, Andris
On Latvian Chrysomelinae (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae): 2. Genus Chrysomela Linnaeus, 1758
/ref> Sylvie La Spina, Jean-Claude Gregoire, Patrick Mertens & CharlesDe-Canniere - Impact of poplar water status on leaf-beetle (''Chrysomela populi'') survival and feeding - ''Annals of Forest Science''. — 2010. — Vol. 67. — P. 209. DOI:10.1051/forest/2009102 Adults may emit a red, highly-smelling, repellent liquid, obtained from the salicylic acid contained in their food plants.

Gallery

File:Chrysomela populi 2 beentree.jpg, Mating pair File:Chrysomela populi eggs.JPG, Laying of eggs File:Chrysomela populi (Poplar Leaf Beetle) larvae, Arnhem, the Netherlands.jpg, Larvae File: Chrysomelidae - Chrysomela populi (pupa).JPG, Pupa. Dorsal view

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1071584 Chrysomelinae Beetles of Europe Beetles of Asia Beetles described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus