Exosoma lusitanicum

Exosoma lusitanicum or daffodil leaf beetle is a species of skeletonizing leaf beetles belonging to the family Chrysomelidae, subfamily Galerucinae.

Exosoma lusitanicum
Exosoma lusitanicum, upperside
Side view
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Coleoptera
Superfamily:
Chrysomeloidea
Family:
Chrysomelidae
Subfamily:
Galerucinae
Genus:
Exosoma
Species:
E. lusitanicum
Binomial name
Exosoma lusitanicum
(Linnaeus, 1767)
Synonyms[1]

Etymology

The genus Exosoma is derived from the ancient Greek ἕξω, meaning outside and σῶμα, meaning body. The Latin species name lusitanicus, meaning occurring in Lusitania (Portugal), refers to the area of distribution of this species.

Distribution

This quite common species is found in France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, North Africa (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia) and in the Near East.[2]

Habitat

These beetles occur in warm-dry areas, both in the plains as well as at an elevation of a thousand meters.

Description
Mating pair

Exosoma lusitanicum can reach a length of 6–8 millimetres (0.24–0.31 in). These small beetles have an elongated, oval and glabrous body. Its pronotum is very finely punctured, convex, and wider than long. Elytra are tight and finely punctured. The basic colour of the pronotum and elytra is shiny red-orange. The head, the antennae, the legs and the abdomen are black.

This species is similar to Exososoma theryi.

Biology

Larvae feed on bulbs of Amaryllidaceae (for instance Narcissus tazetta) and Liliaceae species, while adults feed on flowers of several wild plants, mainly Asteraceae species and are potentially dangerous for vineyards.[3][4]

gollark: Why hath you pingéd me?
gollark: Who pinged me?
gollark: Yes, that seems reasonable, but would be fiddly to implement.
gollark: Can you give it to me? I need it for, er, sliced bread.
gollark: Visit Chorus City, because *its* street signs are *not* down.

References
  1. Biolib
  2. Fauna europaea
  3. Klaus Koch: Die Käfer Mitteleuropas. Band 3: Ökologie. Goecke & Evers, Krefeld 1992, ISBN 3-87263-042-3. (in German)
  4. M.V. Ghiliani: Mémoires sur la station des quelques coléoptères dans les différentes régions du Piémont. Annales de la Societe Entomologique de France: revue d’entomologie ..., Band 5 von Societe Entomologique de France, Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle (Paris), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (Paris) (in French)
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