Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada
Clickable Guide
Moths Butterflies Flies Caterpillars Flies Dragonflies Flies Mantids Cockroaches Bees and Wasps Walkingsticks Earwigs Ants Termites Hoppers and Kin Hoppers and Kin Beetles True Bugs Fleas Grasshoppers and Kin Ticks Spiders Scorpions Centipedes Millipedes

Calendar
Upcoming Events

Photos of insects and people from the 2024 BugGuide gathering in Idaho July 24-27

Moth submissions from National Moth Week 2024

Photos of insects and people from the 2022 BugGuide gathering in New Mexico, July 20-24

Photos of insects and people from the Spring 2021 gathering in Louisiana, April 28-May 2

Photos of insects and people from the 2019 gathering in Louisiana, July 25-27

Photos of insects and people from the 2018 gathering in Virginia, July 27-29


Previous events


TaxonomyBrowse
Info
ImagesLinksBooksData

Species Disonycha pensylvanica

Disonycha - Disonycha pensylvanica Beetle [Disonycha? pensylvanica??] ID Request - Disonycha pensylvanica Leaf Beetle - Disonycha sp - Disonycha pensylvanica Disonycha pensylvanica Zebra-striped beetle - Disonycha pensylvanica Disonycha - Disonycha pensylvanica leaf beetle – Disonycha pensylvanica? - Disonycha pensylvanica overwintering Disonycha pensylvanica? - Disonycha pensylvanica
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 Galerucinae (Skeletonizing Leaf Beetles and Flea Beetles)
Tribe Alticini (Flea Beetles)
No Taxon (Disonycha Genus Group)
Genus Disonycha
Species pensylvanica (Disonycha pensylvanica)
Explanation of Names
Disonycha pensylvanica (Illiger 1807)
Size
5.1-6.5 mm(1)
Identification
The three species of the D. pensylvanica-group are hard to tell apart; in some cases examining male genitalia is the only way.
Common features: Head completely, or for the most part, black; pronotum reddish, usually with central dark spot (+ lateral spots casually); elytra always with pure black & white stripe pattern, black stripes wider than white ones.
Characters that work in most cases:
Disonycha pensylvanica:
head, legs, antennae always black, also underside, except last ventrite (tergites red, however!);
elytra indistinctly punctured, clearly costate in females;
elytral sutural and sublateral black stripes united at tip;
pronotum with one central macula, which may become enlarged to cover most of pronotum;
5-6.5 mm body length.
Where this combination is not complete, especially, if elytral sutural and sublateral black stripes usually shortly interrupted at tip by reddish color, then:
head usually red around antennal sockets;
legs may have red femora;
all ventrites margined red;
elytra clearly punctured, not costate in females;
pronotum with a central macula and two smaller lateral spots (may fuse, but not disappear);
5.8-8 mm body length.
head usually red anterior of antennal base;
legs usually with red femora, also tibiae can be partly red; (variants with legs all dark occur)
abdomen usually completely red;
elytra finely punctured, +/- costate in females;
pronotum with 0-5 spots (may fuse);
5.6-6.8 mm body length.
Range
e. NA (TX-FL-QC-SD) to C. America [map](2)(3)
Habitat
usually near aquatic habitats(1)
Food
Normal hosts are Polygonum spp. including smartweed (Polygonaceae)(4)(5)
Works Cited
1.The leaf beetles of Alabama
Edward Balsbaugh and Kirby Hays. 1972. Agricultural Experiment Station, Auburn University.
2.Catalog of Leaf Beetles of America North of Mexico
Ed Riley, Shawn Clark, and Terry Seeno. 2003. Coleopterists Society.
3.Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
4.Host plants of leaf beetle species occurring in the United States and Canada
Clark et al. 2004. Coleopterists Society, Special Publication no. 2, 476 pp.
5.Revision of the Beetles of the Genus Disonycha Occuring in America North of Mexico
Doris Holmes Blake. 1933. Proceedings of the United States National Museum, Vol 82.