Cryptocephalus decemmaculatus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Taxonomy: Polyphaga > Chrysomeloidea > Chrysomelidae > Cryptocephalus > Cryptocephalus decemmaculatus

Common name: 

Ten-spotted Pot Beetle

Images

Cryptocephalus decemmaculatus
Source:
Roger Key

Description

Size: 3.5-5.0mm
Basic colour: Black and yellow
Pattern colour: Black spots on a yellow background
Number of spots: 5 on each elytron
Spot fusions: Sometimes
Other colour forms: Sometimes
Pronotoum: Black with a variable and irregular central yellow band and narrow yellow side margins.
Leg colour: Yellow or orange-yellow

Known from very few locations in Britain, this beetle has a UK BAP page here.

Biology

Status: Vulnerable (RDB2); a UK Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) species.
Habitat: Broad-leaved woodland, especially on wet hillsides or in areas with quaking bogs.
Host plant: Willows, alder and downy birch.
Overwintering: Unknown
Food: Leaves of host plants.
Other notes: Head black with yellow marking on the top and front. Known mainly from two areas in Perthshire and Staffordshire. The 'bothnicus' variety is entirely black or dark brown, sometimes with a yellow mark on the pronotum.

Articles

Owen, J. (2005). Cryptocephalus decemmaculatus (Linnaeus) (Chrysomelidae) in Aberdeenshire. The Coleopterist 14(3): 138.
Hodge, P.J. & Owen, J.A. (2003). Deletion of Cryptocephalus decemmaculatus Linnaeus (Chrysomelidae) from the Sussex list. The Coleopterist 12(3): 125.

Distribution (may take a minute to appear)