Smaragdina affinis explained

Smaragdina affinis is a species of short-horned leaf beetles belonging to the family Chrysomelidae, subfamily Cryptocephalinae.

Subspecies

• Smaragdina affinis affinis (Illiger, 1794)
• Smaragdina affinis manicata (Lacordaire, 1848) - in Spain^[1]

^{[2] [3]}

Description

The adults are 3.5- long. Head is shiny black. Elytrae are black, with bluish reflections. Pronotum is edged with orange-red or red-brown, while the disc is black. Pronotum shows a fine and sparse punctuation, with strong and dense punctuation on the elytrae. Tibia and tarsi are orange. Femurs are hardly darkened at the base.^[4]

Biology

Adults mainly feed on leaves of Corylus avellana, Quercus and Crataegus species, while larvae possibly feed in leaf litter.^[5]

Distribution

These leaf beetles are present in most of Europe.^{[1] [6]}

Habitat

These leaf beetles are heat-loving. They can be found predominantly in thickets and forest edges, in the plane or on dry warm slopes, from about April to July.

External links

• Naturspaziergang
• Beetles and beetle recording in Great Britain
• Entomoland

Notes and References

1. http://www.biol.uni.wroc.pl/cassidae/European%20Chrysomelidae/smaragdina%20affinis.htm Biol.uni.wroc.pl
2. https://www.biolib.cz/en/taxon/id11530/ Biolib
3. http://bug.tamu.edu/research/collection/hallan/test/Arthropoda/Insects/Coleoptera/Family/CryptocephalinaeWeb1.txt SYNOPSIS OF THE DESCRIBED Chrysomelidae OF THE WORLD
4. Cédric Alonso Coleopteres Chrysomelidae Clytrinae de France continentale e de Corse
5. http://www.kaefer-der-welt.de/smaragdina_affinis.htm Kaefer-der-welt.de
6. https://web.archive.org/web/20160304051837/http://www.faunaeur.org/full_results.php?id=241030 Fauna Europaea