Mantura matthewsii (Curtis, 1833)
Taxonomy: Polyphaga > Chrysomeloidea > Chrysomelidae > Mantura > Mantura matthewsii
Description
Size: 2-2.7mm
Basic colour: Metallic blue, bronze-green or coppery; sometimes bicolourous (elytra and pronotum different colours but a combination of blue, green, blackish or metallic/bronze/coppery)
Pattern colour: None
Number of spots: None
Other colour forms: Sometimes
Pronotoum: See basic colour. Shiny and hood-like, projecting forwards over the head.
Leg colour: Red-brown, hind femora darkened
Basic colour: Metallic blue, bronze-green or coppery; sometimes bicolourous (elytra and pronotum different colours but a combination of blue, green, blackish or metallic/bronze/coppery)
Pattern colour: None
Number of spots: None
Other colour forms: Sometimes
Pronotoum: See basic colour. Shiny and hood-like, projecting forwards over the head.
Leg colour: Red-brown, hind femora darkened
SW Palaearctic (including SE Europe & Caucasus). May be present in Morocco but this is uncertain/unconfirmed.
Biology
Status: Widespread but local, not recorded from Ireland.
Habitat: Various
Host plant: Rock-roses Helianthemum spp.
Overwintering: As adults
Food: Adults on leaves, larvae as leaf-miners (straight galleries)
Other notes: Larvae parasitised by the eulophid wasp Necremnus folia
Habitat: Various
Host plant: Rock-roses Helianthemum spp.
Overwintering: As adults
Food: Adults on leaves, larvae as leaf-miners (straight galleries)
Other notes: Larvae parasitised by the eulophid wasp Necremnus folia