California Willow Leaf Beetle ( Plagiodera californica )
2006-0819-01020119-COL01100-Plagiodera_californica[1229h13s,F,A,tree-willow-leaf-skeletonized]{EXD}-G.jpg
PHOTO COMMENT
IDENTIFICATION
Identification:	Plagiodera californica (Rogers ,1856 )
Common Name:	California Willow Leaf Beetle
Life Stage:	(A) adult
PHYLOGENY
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Superorder:	Holometabola
Order:	Coleoptera
Suborder:	Polyphaga
Family:	Chrysomelidae
Subfamily:	Chrysomelinae
Tribe:	Chrysomelini
Genus:	Plagiodera
Taxon Code:	COL01100
ITIS/TSN:	720162
LOCATION DETAILS
Location Name
Albany
County:	Alameda County
ECI Site#:	CA01020000
RECOGNITION
Recognition
Journal of the New York Entomological Society: "Plagiodera .. has the metasternum distincly produced between teh middle coxae .. and the elytralepipleurae are deeply, longitudinally excavated."
Description
Adult: All black and shiny. The body is relatively less convex and more elongate than other local members of the Chrysomelidae. Pronotum: Comparatively short. Larva: May be all black, including head, pronotum, abdomen and legs. Feeding produces pitted holes in leaf surfaces. Frass may appear at the feeding site. Secretions produced by the feeding life stages may turn the feeding site dark. Eggs are similar to most other chrysomelid eggs.
Similar Taxa
Imported Willow Leaf Beetle (P. versicolora)
BIOLOGY
Host
Adult sand larvae feed on willow leaves.
Range
This beetle occurs along the central and northern coast of California.
CREDITS
Photographer Eddie Dunbar Insect Sciences Museum of California
References
Species Plagiodera californica. (http://bugguide.net/node/view/724879). Accessed March 12, 2016. .
ITIS.
UCIPM Online
Journal of the New York Entomological Society, Volume 27, p. 330
Pests of Landscape Trees and Shrubs. Third Edition. Steve H. Dreistadt.

.