Bruchidius varius (Olivier, 1795)

Taxonomy: Polyphaga > Chrysomeloidea > Chrysomelidae > Bruchidius > Bruchidius varius

Images

Bruchidius varius
Source:
Lech Borowiec

Description

Size: 2.5-3mm
Basic colour: See pattern colour
Pattern colour: Dorsally with a clear pattern of whitish, golden, pale brown and dark brown scale-like pubesence.
Number of spots: None
Pronotoum: As pattern colour.
Leg colour: Reddish with basal parts of femora, and apices/inner edges of mid-tibiae and tarsi brownish to black.

First recorded in Britain in 1994.

Biology

Status: Scattered in south and SE England.
Habitat: Mixed vegetation in a variety of habitats.
Host plant: Minaly on red clover Trifolium pratense and zigzag clover T. medium; also gorse Ulex europaeus and sea club-rush Bolboschoenus maritimus; possibly other species.
Overwintering: Asjuvenile developing in host seeds; adults emerge in July/August. Adults also hibernate, re-emerging from late April.
Food: Seeds (larvae) and pollen (adults) of host plants.
Other notes: In France and Italy, parasitised by various Hymenoptera: Eupelmus atropurpureus (Eupelmidae), Triaspis hilaris (Braconidae), Trichomalus campestris (Pteromalidae) and Systole albipennis (Eurytomidae).

Articles

Lott, D. & Owen, J. (2003). Bruchidius varius (Olivier) (Col. Bruchidae) in Leicestershire. The Coleopterist 12(3): 113.
Barclay, M.V.L. & Ismay, J.W. (2001). Bruchidius varius (Olivier, 1795) (Chrysomelidae: Bruchinae) new to Oxfordshire. The Coleopterist 10(2): 57.
Hodge, P.J. (1998). More records for Bruchidius varius (Olivier) (Chrysomelidae). The Coleopterist 7(2): 65.
Hodge, P.J. (1997). Bruchidius varius (Olivier) (Chrysomelidae) new to the British Isles. The Coleopterist 5(3): 65.

Distribution (may take a minute to appear)