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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) » Chaetocnema

Genus Chaetocnema

Classification · Other Common Names · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Size · Identification · Range · Habitat · Food · Remarks · Works Cited

Destructive little guys - Chaetocnema quadricollis

Buttonwood flea beetle (Chaetocnema brunnescens Horn) and damage - Chaetocnema brunnescens

Chaetocnema gentneri Csiki - Chaetocnema gentneri

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)

Genus Chaetocnema

Other Common Names

Stout Flea Beetles

Explanation of Names

Chaetocnema Stephens 1831

Numbers

~60 spp. in our area, ~450 total(1)

Size

1.1‒3.25 mm

Identification

Middle and hind tibiae with a blunt projection or tooth in the apical half, followed by an emargination. Among NA flea beetles, only Blepharida has similar tibiae (otherwise looks different).

Species ID usually impossible from photos.

Key to 5 spp. found in se. Canada in (2)

Range

worldwide

Habitat

open habitats; larvae subterranean

Food

hosts include plants of many families; in our area, Poaceae, Cyperaceae, Chenopodiaceae, Convolvulaceae, Combretaceae, Polygonaceae, and Malvaceae

larvae feed on underground parts

Remarks

commercial pests: C. confinis (Sweetpotato Flea Beetle), C. denticulata (Toothed Flea Beetle), C. ectypa (Desert Corn Flea Beetle), C. pulicaria (Corn Flea Beetle)(2), C. repens (Dichondra Flea Beetle)(3)

Works Cited

1.	A revision of the genus Chaetocnema of America north of Mexico (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) White R.E. 1996. Contr. Am. Ent. Inst. 29: 1-158.

2.	Chaetocnema flea beetles (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae, Alticini) of the Maritime Provinces of Canada Majka C.G., LeSage L. 2010. Journal of the Acadian Entomological Society 6: 34-38.

3.	Garden Insects of North America : The Ultimate Guide to Backyard Bugs (Princeton Field Guides) Whitney Cranshaw. 2004. Princeton University Press.

Contributed by tom murray on 21 November, 2006 - 8:59pm
Additional contributions by Mike Quinn, Boris Bueche, Ron M., v belov
Last updated 7 November, 2024 - 1:09pm

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