''Chrysomela vigintipunctata'', or the spotted willow leaf beetle, 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 ...

. The length of the beetles varies from 6.5 to 9.2 mm. Both

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 and

adult An adult is a human or other animal that has reached full growth. In human context, the term ''adult'' has meanings associated with social and legal concepts. In contrast to a " minor", a legal adult is a person who has attained the age of major ...

s feed on the

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

of its host plants, especially

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. Elytra usually are

yellow Yellow is the color between green and orange on the spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a dominant wavelength of roughly 575585 nm. It is a primary color in subtractive color systems, used in painting or color printing. In the R ...

ish-green, with ten black spots on each side, while the head and the pronotum are

black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

, with yellow sides. Beetles live mostly in forests, along lakes, swamps and feed on

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 ...

and ''

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 ...

''. 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 Southwold is a seaside town and civil parish on the English North Sea coast in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk. It lies at the mouth of the River Blyth within the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The town is a ...

beach, east

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

on 26 May 2016. A search in suitable habitat for more specimens was unsuccessful.

Images

file:Chrysomela vigintipunctata (Chrysomelidae) - (larva), Nijmegen, the Netherlands.jpg, larva file:Chrysomela vigintipunctata (Chrysomelidae) - (pupa), Nijmegen, the Netherlands.jpg, pupa file:Chrysomela vigintipunctata (Chrysomelidae) - (pupa), Nijmegen, the Netherlands - 2.jpg, empty pupa file:Chrysomela vigintipunctata (Chrysomelidae) - (imago), Nijmegen, the Netherlands.jpg, imago

References

External links

''BioLib''''Fauna Europaea''
{{Taxonbar , from=Q1301917 Chrysomelinae Beetles described in 1763 Beetles of Asia Beetles of Europe Taxa named by Giovanni Antonio Scopoli