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BugGuide Gathering
Pack Forest
Washington State
July 10-12, 2009
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Photos from the 2008 gathering in Tennessee
 
Photos from the 2007 gathering in Minnesota

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Tribe Alticini - Flea Beetles

Beetle - chrysomelid? - Disonycha fumata  Leaf Beetle - Orthaltica copalina Flea beetle - Chaetocnema Flea Beetle 1 ? Flea Beetle - Chaetocnema Sumac Flea Beetle - Blepharida rhois Thoracic-spotted Flea Beetle - Kuschelina thoracica Crepidodera
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Coleoptera (Beetles)
Suborder Polyphaga (Water, Rove, Scarab, Longhorn, Leaf and Snout Beetles)
Superfamily Chrysomeloidea (Long-horned and Leaf Beetles)
Family Chrysomelidae (Leaf Beetles)
Subfamily Galerucinae (Skeletonizing leaf beetles)
Tribe Alticini (Flea Beetles)
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
formerly considered a subfamily (Alticinae); now considered a tribe (Alticini) of Galerucinae
Explanation of Names
FLEA BEETLES: Almost all the beetles in this tribe are capable of jumping - like a flea jumps
Numbers
Approximately 500 genera and between 8,000 and 10,000 species are recognized world-wide; the vast majority are tropical and poorly known. Forty-seven genera occur north of Mexico and are represented by about 470 described species. (1)
Identification
Enlarged hind femora are distinctive.
An online key to palearctic genera may be of some use for North America also.
Remarks
Most male flea beetles have the first segment of the anteriour tarsi enlarged.
Field sorting funnel
Internet References
pinned adult images of a number of species/genera mixed in with other Chrysomelidae in various subfamilies/tribes (Insects of Cedar Creek, Minnesota)
classification in subfamily and tribe (Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, California)
Works Cited
1.American Beetles, Volume II: Polyphaga: Scarabaeoidea through Curculionoidea
By Arnett, R.H., Jr., M. C. Thomas, P. E. Skelley and J. H. Frank. (eds.)