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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Beetles (Coleoptera) » Water, Rove, Scarab, Long-horned, Leaf and Snout Beetles (Polyphaga) » Series Cucujiformia » Long-horned and Leaf Beetles (Chrysomeloidea) » Leaf Beetles (Chrysomelidae) » Skeletonizing Leaf Beetles and Flea Beetles (Galerucinae) » Flea Beetles (Alticini) » Disonycha Genus Group » Disonycha » Disonycha pensylvanica

Species Disonycha pensylvanica

Classification · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Size · Identification · Range · Habitat · Season · Food · Works Cited

Beetle [Disonycha? pensylvanica??] ID Request - Disonycha pensylvanica

Leaf Beetle - Disonycha sp - Disonycha pensylvanica

on the painted wall - Disonycha pensylvanica

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)

Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Coleoptera (Beetles)

Suborder Polyphaga (Water, Rove, Scarab, Long-horned, Leaf and Snout Beetles)

No Taxon (Series Cucujiformia)

Superfamily Chrysomeloidea (Long-horned 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)

Synonyms and other taxonomic changes

Disonycha pensylvanica (Illiger)

Orig. Comb: Haltica pensylvanica Illiger, 1807

Size

Length 5.1-6.5 mm (1)

Identification

Det. M. A. Quinn, 2010

The three species of the D. pensylvanica - group are not always safely identified - last hope is male genitalia, in some cases.

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.

Following characteristics work in most cases:

Disonycha pensylvanica:

- head, legs, antennae always black, also underside, except last ventral segment of abdomen;

(dorsal segments 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.

. . . . full combination not found; especially, elytral sutural and sublateral black stripes usually shortly interrupted at tip by reddish zone:

Disonycha uniguttata:

- head usually red around antennal sockets;

- legs may have red femora;

- all ventral segments of abdomen with red margin;

- 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.

Disonycha procera:

- head usually red anteriour of antennal base;

- legs usually with red femora, also tibiae can be partly red;

(dark varieties 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

Canada: PQ,ON; eastern US w to Il/AL and LA,TX / s to C. Amer. (2)

Habitat

For the most part found near aquatic habitats (1)

Season

mostly: May-Aug (BG data)

Food

Normal hosts are Polygonum spp. including smartweed (Polygonaceae) (3)(4)

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.	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.

4.	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.

Contributed by john and jane balaban on 8 January, 2006 - 10:19am
Additional contributions by Stephen Cresswell, Mike Quinn, Boris Bueche
Last updated 3 November, 2018 - 8:47am

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