Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods) ➔ Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods) ➔ Class Insecta (Insects) ➔ Order Coleoptera (Beetles) ➔ Family Chrysomelidae (Leaf beetles)
Gastrophysa viridula (De Geer, 1775)
Ampferblattkäfer Green Dock Beetle
Synonyms and other combinations:
Chrysomela viridula De Geer, 1775 | Gastroidea viridula (DeGeer, 1775) | Chrysomela raphani Herbst, 1783 |
Further vernacular names:
Green Dock Leaf Beetle, Green Sorrel BeetleClassification:
Gastrophysa viridula belongs to the subfamily Chrysomelinae, tribe Chrysomelini.Distribution:
EuropeHabitat:
Nutrient-rich grasslands, watersides and tall forb communities.Description:
Length 4 - 6 mm; winged species; body elongated, green, golden or bluish metallic, rarely purple or violet; elytra disordered dotted, without distinct lateral margin, at the end with indented seam strip; elytra at the base only slightly wider than the pronotum at the base; pronotum metallic or black with metallic shine; base of the pronotum finely edged.Biology:
Gastrophysa viridula forms in Central Europe up to 3 generations per year. The beetles are bad flyers and fly only rarely, but can migrate over long distances. They live on plants of the knotweed family (Polygonaceae), especially on docks and sorrels (Rumex). The broad-leaved dock (Rumex obtusifolius) is frequently colonized.Adults of Gastrophysa viridula appear after hibernation from the end of March to mid-April and can be found on their forage plants until about September. The females lay light yellow eggs in groups of 20 - 45 on the undersides of the leaves of the host plants. A female can lay up to 1000 eggs. After 3 to 6 days the young larvae hatch. The larvae eat holes in the leaves of their host plants and can completely destroy them if they appear in large numbers. The pupation takes place in the soil near or below the host plant. After a pupal period of 6 to 9 days the beetles of the new generation hatch. The entire development cycle takes about a month.
For overwintering, the adult beetles bury themselves in the ground after a maturation feeding. It is also possible that preimaginal stages can overwinter.
Note:
In breeding experiments the larvae of Gastrophysa viridula have pupated without problems on kitchen paper. The pale yellow pupae in the first days began to discolour about one day before hatching. Shortly after hatching the legs, pronotum and antennae of the beetles were already relatively dark, the elytra yellowish and still uncoloured. A few hours later the elytra were brown and the pronotum black. On the following day the beetles had reached their final metallic green colour.References, further reading, links:
- Rheinheimer, Joachim, & Hassler, Michael: Die Blattkäfer Baden-Württembergs, 2018, 928 pages, Kleinsteuber Books (Karlsruhe), ISBN 978-3-9818110-2-5
- Arved Lompe: Die Käfer Europas - Ein Bestimmungswerk im Internet
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