Clytra laeviuscula

Clytra laeviuscula, the ant bag beetle, is a species of short-horned leaf beetles belonging to the family Chrysomelidae, subfamily Cryptocephalinae.[1]

Clytra laeviuscula
Clytra laeviuscula
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Coleoptera
Suborder:
Polyphaga
Superfamily:
Chrysomeloidea
Family:
Chrysomelidae
Subfamily:
Cryptocephalinae
Genus:
Clytra
Species:
C. laeviuscula
Binomial name
Clytra laeviuscula
Ratzeburg, 1837
Synonyms
  • Clythra fasciata (Fabricius 1837)
  • Clythra laeviuscula (Ratzeburg, 1837)

Distribution

They are found in most of Europe, in the eastern part of the Palearctic ecozone and in the Near East.[2]

Habitat

These beetles inhabit wet forests, sunny forest edges, dry slopes and dry grasslands, but also floodplains and parks.[3]

Description

Clytra laeviuscula can reach a length of 7.5–11.5 millimetres (0.30–0.45 in) and a width of about 4 millimetres (0.16 in).[3] These beetles have elongated bodies and shiny red-orange elytra with four black spots, two larger around the center of the elytra and two smaller on the shoulders. The prothorax is black and shiny. The head and legs are black, as well as the antennae that are quite short.

Clytra laeviuscula can be distinguished from ladybirds (family Coccinellidae) by its more elongated form and by its tarsi (ends of the legs) formed of five parts (three for ladybugs).

This species is rather similar to Clytra quadripunctata.

Biology

Adults occurs frequently from May to August.[3] They are phytophagous. The feed on leaves, flowers and pollen of deciduous trees, mainly of Quercus robur, Salix, Populus, Betula, Fraxinus excelsior, Fagus sylvatica, Dorycnium, Prunus, Ulmus and Corylus avellana.[4] They feed also on pollen of Rosa canina, Polygonum bistorta and Leucanthemum vulgare.[3]

Clytra laeviuscula has a special relationship with ants. The females wrap each egg with their hind legs in a ball of about 2 mm of excrements/feces and leaves it in the vicinity of an anthill. The eggs are taken to the nest by ants, where the larvae made a kind of tube that serves to protect them from ants. They feed on the waste and other detritus left by the ants, on their eggs and on their larvae. The adults usually emerge after about two weeks.[5] The larval cycle lasts about two years.[6]

  • Mating pair
  • Oviposition
  • Mounted specimen
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References
  1. Biolib
  2. Fauna europaea
  3. Commanster
  4. BRC - Database of Insects and their Food Plants
  5. Tatyana Robertivna Stefanovska, Edwin E Lewis First Record Of Clytra Laeviuscula Ratzeburg As Potential Insect Pest Of Energy Willow (Salix Viminalis L.) In Ukraine
  6. Mohr, K.H., in eds. Freude, H., Harde, K.W. & Lohse, G.A. (1966) Die kafer Mitteleuropas. 88. Familie: Chrysomelidae 9 95-299:119


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