''Clytra quadripunctata'' is a species of
leaf beetle in the subfamily
Cryptocephalinae. Its common name is Four spotted leaf beetle.
Subspecies
Subspecies
In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...
include:
*''Clytra quadripunctata quadripunctata'' (Linnaeus, 1758)
*''Clytra quadripunctata puberula'' Weise, 1898
Distribution and habitat
This species is present in the western
Palearctic realm from
Europe (
Bohemia
Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...
,
Moravia,
France,
Germany,
Italy,
Slovakia and the north of
Spain) to
Mongolia. They can be found on woody plants, roadside edges, dry grasslands and forest edges.
Description
''Clytra quadripunctata'' can reach a body length of about . These beetles show 4 black spots on the yellow-red wing covers. This species is very similar to ''
Clytra laeviuscula'', but Clytra quadripunctata has rounded and smaller posterior spots on the elytra.
The main criterion for distinguishing the two species is located in the center of the pronotum: it is regularly punctate in Clytra quadripunctata and not shiny, but smooth and shiny in Clytra laeviuscula.
Biology
Adults can be found from April to the end of August. This species of beetle is common in the spring on the flowering blackberry bushes and consumes the fruit. They feed on the leaves of various
plants, including: ''
Dactylis glomerata'', ''
Pteridium aquilinum'', hawthorn (''
Crataegus
''Crataegus'' (), commonly called hawthorn, quickthorn, thornapple, Voss, E. G. 1985. ''Michigan Flora: A guide to the identification and occurrence of the native and naturalized seed-plants of the state. Part II: Dicots (Saururaceae–Cornacea ...
''),
blackthorn (''Prunus''),
willow (''Salix''),
birch (''Betula'') and
oak (''Quercus'').
[Database of Insects and their Food Plants]
/ref> These beetles lives near wood ants (genus Formica). The larvae develop in the nests of these ants. [ Michael Chinery - Insectes de France et d'Europe occidentale, Paris, Groupe Flammarion (2012), pg. 282-283 (ISBN 978-2-08-128823-2 ) ]
Bibliography
*Anderson, R., Nash, R. & O'Connor, J.P.. 1997, Irish Coleoptera: a revised and annotated list, Irish Naturalists' Journal Special Entomological Supplement, 1-81
*du Chatenet, G, 2000, Coléoptères Phytophages D’Europe, , NAP Editions,
*Joy, N.H., 1932, A practical handbook of British beetles, , H.F. & G. Witherby,
* This article has been expanded using, inter alia, material based on a translation of an article from the French Wikipedia, by the same name.
Gallery
File: Clytra.quadripunctata.jpg
File: Clytra quadripunctata (14044251907).jpg
File: Clytra quadripunctata-Clytre à quatre points-201606061.jpg
File: Clytra quadripunctata Lacord, 1848.jpg
References
Notes
Beetles described in 1758
Beetles of Asia
Beetles of Europe
Clytrini
Palearctic insects
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus
{{Cryptocephalinae-stub