Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada

Subfamily Chrysomelinae

Chrysomelid  - Phaedon purpureus Leaf beetle? - Chrysomela crotchi - male - female  Yellow-margined leaf beetle - Microtheca ochroloma beetle - Calligrapha serpentina Cottonwood Leaf Beetle - Chrysomela scripta Labidomera clivicollis hatching - Labidomera clivicollis Leptinotarsa lineolata? - Leptinotarsa lineolata Colorado Potato Beetle - Leptinotarsa decemlineata
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Coleoptera (Beetles)
Suborder Polyphaga
No Taxon (Series Cucujiformia)
Superfamily Chrysomeloidea (Longhorn and Leaf Beetles)
Family Chrysomelidae (Leaf Beetles)
Subfamily Chrysomelinae
Other Common Names
Broad-bodied Leaf Beetles, Broad-shouldered Leaf Beetles
Numbers
16 genera and 135 spp. in our area(1)(2), ~3,000 spp. worldwide(3)
Size
3-14 mm
Identification
Convex, round, or oval, often brightly colored. Head partly inserted into prothorax (to the eyes). Eyes slightly emarginate. Antennae moderately long, clavate, insertions separated by width of frons. Pronotum at least slightly convex and nearly as wide basally as elytra; lateral margins defined. Procoxae transversely oval. Third tarsal segment usually entire. Elytra covering pygidium and with wide epipleura.(4)
Food
foliage and flowers of a variety of plants
Life Cycle
Larvae w/o fecal coverings, feed externally on leaves(1)
Works Cited
1.American Beetles, Volume II: Polyphaga: Scarabaeoidea through Curculionoidea
Arnett, R.H., Jr., M. C. Thomas, P. E. Skelley and J. H. Frank. (eds.). 2002. CRC Press LLC, Boca Raton, FL.
2.A Review of the North American Chrysomeline Leaf Beetles (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae).
John A. Wilcox. 1972. New York Museum and Science Service Bulletin No. 421. 37 pp.
3.Chrysomelid males with enlarged mandibles: three new species and a review of occurrence in the family (Coleoptera:Chrysomelidae)
Reid C.A.M., Beatson M. 2013. Zootaxa 3619: 79–100.
4.The leaf beetles of Alabama
Edward Balsbaugh and Kirby Hays. 1972. Agricultural Experiment Station, Auburn University.