Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods) ➔ Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods) ➔ Class Insecta (Insects) ➔ Order Coleoptera (Beetles) ➔ Family Chrysomelidae (Leaf beetles)

Donacia bicolora Zschach, 1788

Goldener Schilfkäfer Two-tone Reed Beetle

Synonyms and other combinations:

Donacia aurea Hoppe, 1795 | Donacia collaris Panzer, 1795 | Donacia sagittariae Fabricius, 1792 |

  • Donacia bicolor  3150
    Donacia bicolora Zschach, 1788  Goldener Schilfkäfer  Two-tone Reed Beetle 
    Donacia bicolor, det. Klaas Reißmann
    DE, Chemnitz, Zeisigwald; 2006-05-21 10:40:12
    Image number: 3150

    DE, Chemnitz, Zeisigwald
    2006-05-21 10:40:12
    det. Klaas Reißmann
  • Donacia bicolor  3151
    Donacia bicolora Zschach, 1788  Goldener Schilfkäfer  Two-tone Reed Beetle 
    Donacia bicolor
    DE, Chemnitz, Zeisigwald; 2006-05-21 10:39:51
    Image number: 3151

    DE, Chemnitz, Zeisigwald
    2006-05-21 10:39:51


Classification:
Donacia bicolora belongs to the subfamily Donaciinae, tribe Donaciini.
Distribution:
Europe, Asia Minor, east to southern Siberia and Central Asia.
Habitat:
On banks and in shallow waters preferably from running waters.
Description:
Length 8.5 - 11 mm; elytra satin glossy, usually monochrome green to yellow-green, sometimes with reddish or coppery shimmer, rarely bluish; interspaces of the dotted stripes mostly quite strongly wrinkled, thus the dotted stripes in places not very clear; elytra with striking depressions: 3 - 4 depressions next to the seam, 1 scutellum depression as well as 1 large lateral longitudinal depression; rear edge of the pygidium in the female rounded, truncated or indistinctly indentated, in the male often slightly indentated; underside hairy golden yellow.
There are some similar species in the genera Donacia and Plateumaris.
Biology:
The adults of the Two-tone Reed Beetle Donacia bicolora can be observed from May to September with a peak between late May and early July.
The mobile beetles fly within stands of the branched bur-reed (Sparganium erectum) or sit on its leaves. The larvae live, feed and develop on the rhizomes or roots of Sparganium erectum, the fodder plant of the species. Adults also occasionally eat on leaves or flowers of club-rushes (Scirpus), sedges (Carex), bulrushes (Typha), reeds (Phragmites) or sweet-grasses (Glyceria).

References, further reading, links:
  1. Rheinheimer, Joachim, & Hassler, Michael: Die Blattkäfer Baden-Württembergs, 2018, 928 pages, Kleinsteuber Books (Karlsruhe), ISBN 978-3-9818110-2-5
  2. Arved Lompe: Die Käfer Europas - Ein Bestimmungswerk im Internet
  3. Brian Nelson, John Walsh, Garth Foster: Finding Jewels amongst the Reeds: A Review of the Irish Donaciine Beetles (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae); Bull. Ir. biogeog. Soc. No. 31 (2007) 117-193.