Psylliodes luteola (Müller, O.F., 1776)
Taxonomy: Polyphaga > Chrysomeloidea > Chrysomelidae > Psylliodes > Psylliodes luteola
Description
Size: 2.2-3.1mm
Basic colour: Dusky-yellow to reddish; similar to teneral specimens of P. picina but separated by fine details of the head.
Pattern colour: None
Number of spots: None
Pronotoum: As basic colour
Leg colour: As basic colour
Confusion species: Psylliodes picina
Basic colour: Dusky-yellow to reddish; similar to teneral specimens of P. picina but separated by fine details of the head.
Pattern colour: None
Number of spots: None
Pronotoum: As basic colour
Leg colour: As basic colour
Confusion species: Psylliodes picina
Western Palaearctic
Biology
Status: Very localised in central southern England (as far north as Derbyshire), with most records from Oxfordshire. It may have become more widespread since the late 1980s but this requires confirmation (hence RDBK status)
RDB Category: Insufficiently Known (RDBK)
Habitat: Various
Host plant: Various cereals and wild grasses; also trees and shrubs.
Overwintering: As larvae, then probably as adults the year after.
Food: Adults inside wheat seeds and one developing leaves/sheaths (they can create bare areas in fields and skeletonise oak leaves); larvae probably at the roots of grasses.
Other notes: Adults parasitised by a braconid wasp (probably Perilitus sp.), a nematode, and numerous mites (all unidentified).
RDB Category: Insufficiently Known (RDBK)
Habitat: Various
Host plant: Various cereals and wild grasses; also trees and shrubs.
Overwintering: As larvae, then probably as adults the year after.
Food: Adults inside wheat seeds and one developing leaves/sheaths (they can create bare areas in fields and skeletonise oak leaves); larvae probably at the roots of grasses.
Other notes: Adults parasitised by a braconid wasp (probably Perilitus sp.), a nematode, and numerous mites (all unidentified).
Articles
Alexander, K.N.A. (2002). Psylliodes luteola (Müller, O.F.) (Chrysomelidae) in Derbyshire. The Coleopterist 11(1): 30.
Cox, M.L. (2000). The current status of Psylliodes luteola (Müller, O.F., 1776) (Chrysomelidae) in the U.K.. The Coleopterist 9(2): 55.