Species Capraita circumdata

Capraita circumdata (Randall)

Orig. Comb: Haltica circumdata Randall, 1838

e. N. Amer. (TX-FL-QC-IA) - Map (1)(2)

"Apparently a generalist: BugGuide images show this species eating flowers of spring beauty (Claytonia caroliniana) and foliage of white ash (Fraxinus americana) and Amur honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii)." (Charley's comment moved from C. thyamoides page, rendered inapplicable there as a result of the latest developments. =v=)) Clark et al. (3) report having found this species feeding on the bracts at the bases of flowering dogwood (Cornaceae: Cornus florida) flower clusters, and on (presumably foliage of) possumhaw (Aquifoliaceae: Ilex decidua), trumpet creeper (Bignoniaceae: Campsis radicans), common dittany (Lamiaceae: Cunila origanoides), ash (Oleaceae: Fraxinus spp.), smooth yellow false foxglove (Scrophulariaceae: Aureolaria flava), and mullein foxglove (Scrophulariaceae: Dasistoma macrophylla). They list honeysuckle and snowberry among the many other plants these beetles have been found on, but the BugGuide record (assuming the beetle is correctly identified) may be the first documentation of actual feeding on a member of the honeysuckle family (Caprifoliaceae).

=v='s avis:

Anthony Deczynski told me that "none of the [photos] IDed as Capraita thyamoides are correct. C. thyamoides lacks humeral callosities, which appear in all the images. Most of them are probably C. circumdata, although some other species have variations which look similar. I would recommend placing them all in this species and I will comment if I find any which appear to be different. I found a single image of the true C. thyamoides in the unidentified [Alticini], which I commented on." (pers. comm.)

Boris's comment:

In fact, images of C. thyamoides, dark subvittata, and perhaps even aberrrant obsidiana may still be intermixed in our series of C. circumdata.

The history of the species knew confusion for a long time (with quercata and subvittata).