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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Beetles (Coleoptera) » Polyphaga » Series Cucujiformia » Longhorn and Leaf Beetles (Chrysomeloidea) » Leaf Beetles (Chrysomelidae) » Skeletonizing Leaf Beetles and Flea Beetles (Galerucinae) » Flea Beetles (Alticini) » Asphaera Genus Group » Asphaera » Shiny Flea Beetle (Asphaera lustrans)

Species Asphaera lustrans - Shiny Flea Beetle

Classification · Other Common Names · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Explanation of Names · Size · Identification · Range · Food · See Also · Print References · Internet References · Works Cited
Asphaera - Asphaera lustrans Shining Flea Beetle - Asphaera lustrans Shining Flea Beetle - Asphaera lustrans - male - female BG2510 C3122 - Asphaera lustrans Shiny Flea Beetle - Asphaera lustrans Shiny Flea Beetle - Asphaera lustrans Asphaera lustrans Shiny Flea Beetle - Asphaera lustrans
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 (Asphaera Genus Group)
Genus Asphaera
Species lustrans (Shiny Flea Beetle)
Other Common Names
In Florida, sometimes called the 'Gator Beetle' - due to the orange and blue-black colors approximating those of the UF Gators...
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Asphaera lustrans (Crotch)
Orig. Comb: Oedionychus lustrans Crotch 1873
Explanation of Names
lustr (L). 'shining, pure, washed' (1)
Size
adult ~7 mm, larva to ~10 mm
Identification
head, prothorax, and femora coral colored; elytra smooth, glossy, indigo; antennae, tibia and tarsi black; coral colored ventrally except usually for meso-thorasic segment. also, usually black betw the eyes above.

ventral variations:
Range
se. US to AZ (AZ-FL-SC-NE) / ne. Mex. - Map (2)(3), rare in AZ & NM
Food
host: skullcap (Scutellaria spp., Lamiaceae), S. drummondii in central Texas and on S. wrightii northern Texas (4)
See Also
Asphaera abdominalis - Range: ne Mex. to C. Amer.
Print References
Crotch, G.R. 1873. Check List of the Coleoptera of America, North of Mexico. Naturalists Agency, Salem, Mass. 136 pp.
Internet References
Texas Entomology - Mike Quinn 2008
Type - MCZ, Harvard
Works Cited
1.Dictionary of Word Roots and Combining Forms
Donald J. Borror. 1960. Mayfield Publishing Company.
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.
Contributed by Hannah Nendick-Mason on 12 September, 2004 - 11:16am
Additional contributions by Joshua Stuart Rose, Mike Quinn, v belov
Last updated 16 January, 2022 - 2:15pm

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