Smaragdina affinis (Illiger, 1794)
Taxonomy: Polyphaga > Chrysomeloidea > Chrysomelidae > Smaragdina > Smaragdina affinis
Description
Size: 2.5-4mm
Basic colour: Elytra dark blue
Pattern colour: See pronotum
Number of spots: None
Pronotoum: dark blue with sides broadly orange-red to red-brown
Leg colour: Orange-red to red-brown
Basic colour: Elytra dark blue
Pattern colour: See pronotum
Number of spots: None
Pronotoum: dark blue with sides broadly orange-red to red-brown
Leg colour: Orange-red to red-brown
Western Palaearctic.
In 2010, a single male S. salicina was taken from hedgerow/scrub on a sloping chalk grassland in Buckinghamshire (Hubble & Murray 2011) and is easily distinguished as the pronotum is entirely red-brown. The specimen is know with the Oxford University Museum of Natural History.
Hubble, D. & Murray, D. (2011). First British record of Smaragdina salicina (Scopoli, 1763) (Chrysomelidae). The Coleopterist 20(1): 1-3.
Biology
Status: A few records from Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire between 1899 and 1965. Endangered (RDB1)
RDB Category: Endangered (RDB1)
Habitat: Broadleaved woodland and marshy thickets near rivers.
Host plant: Hazels, sometimes birches.
Overwintering: Unknown
Food: Adults probably on leaves, larval feeding more uncertain - possibly in leaf litter and/or within ant-nests.
RDB Category: Endangered (RDB1)
Habitat: Broadleaved woodland and marshy thickets near rivers.
Host plant: Hazels, sometimes birches.
Overwintering: Unknown
Food: Adults probably on leaves, larval feeding more uncertain - possibly in leaf litter and/or within ant-nests.