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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Beetles (Coleoptera) » Water, Rove, Scarab, Longhorn, Leaf and Snout Beetles (Polyphaga) » Long-horned and Leaf Beetles (Chrysomeloidea) » Leaf Beetles (Chrysomelidae) » Skeletonizing leaf beetles (Galerucinae) » Flea Beetles (Alticini)

Tribe Alticini - Flea Beetles

Classification · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Identification · Remarks · Internet References · Works Cited
Flea Beetle - Altica black-red-black flea beetle - Disonycha xanthomelas Leaf Beetle? - Altica Flea Beetle - Kuschelina gibbitarsa Phyllotreta? - Phyllotreta striolata Disonycha Chrysomelid (alticine?) eating a spring beauty flower - Capraita thyamoides Blapharida rhois (Sumac Flea Beetle)? - Blepharida rhois
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.)
Contributed by tom murray on 21 December, 2005 - 5:29pm
Additional contributions by john and jane balaban, Beatriz Moisset, Robin McLeod, Phillip Harpootlian, Mike Quinn, Boris Bueche
Last updated 7 January, 2008 - 12:12pm

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