Cryptocephalus sexpunctatus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Taxonomy: Polyphaga > Chrysomeloidea > Chrysomelidae > Cryptocephalus > Cryptocephalus sexpunctatus
Common name:
Six-spotted Pot Beetle
Images
Source:
Ross Piper
Description
Size: 4.5-6.5mm
Basic colour: Black and red/orange-red
Pattern colour: Black spots on red/orange-red elytra
Number of spots: 3 on each elytron, sometimes fused into transverse bands.
Spot fusions: Sometimes
Other colour forms: Sometimes
Pronotoum: Black, usually with a variable red/orange-red mark and lateral bands.
Leg colour: Darkened; brownish, sometimes tinged with other colours.
Basic colour: Black and red/orange-red
Pattern colour: Black spots on red/orange-red elytra
Number of spots: 3 on each elytron, sometimes fused into transverse bands.
Spot fusions: Sometimes
Other colour forms: Sometimes
Pronotoum: Black, usually with a variable red/orange-red mark and lateral bands.
Leg colour: Darkened; brownish, sometimes tinged with other colours.
Known from a few widely scattered sites in England and Scotland, it has a UK Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) page here.
Biology
Status: Vulnerable (RDB2); a UK BAP species.
Habitat: Calcareous grassland with dense scrub (especially on west-facing slopes), and broad-leaved woodland.
Host plant: Various, especially trees and shrubs.
Overwintering: Life cycle takes two years.
Food: Adults feed on leaves of trees, and may also feed on pollen; larvae feed on hazel catkins and leaves, plus the leaves of low-growing plants, possibly with other food sources as well.
Other notes: Elytra sometimes black with a red spot.
Habitat: Calcareous grassland with dense scrub (especially on west-facing slopes), and broad-leaved woodland.
Host plant: Various, especially trees and shrubs.
Overwintering: Life cycle takes two years.
Food: Adults feed on leaves of trees, and may also feed on pollen; larvae feed on hazel catkins and leaves, plus the leaves of low-growing plants, possibly with other food sources as well.
Other notes: Elytra sometimes black with a red spot.
Articles
Piper, R. (2009). A record of Cryptocephalus sexpunctatus (Linnaeus) (Chrysomelidae) from Worcestershire. The Coleopterist 18(2): 84.
Cooter, J. (2009). Cryptocephalus sexpunctatus (Linnaeus) (Chrysomelidae) in Worcestershire. The Coleopterist 18(3): 200.