Smaragdina salicina

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Smaragdina salicina
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Infraorder: Cucujiformia
Family: Chrysomelidae
Subfamily: Cryptocephalinae
Tribe: Clytrini
Genus: Smaragdina
Species:
S. salicina
Binomial name
Smaragdina salicina
Synonyms
  • Smaragdina cyanea (Fabricius, 1775)

Smaragdina salicina is a species of short-horned leaf beetles belonging to the family Chrysomelidae, subfamily Cryptocephalinae.

This leaf beetle lives in Europe, in the eastern Palearctic realm, and in the Near East.

The adults are 4.5–6.5 millimetres (0.18–0.26 in) long. The colours of head and elytra of this beetle are dark blue, while pronotum is reddish and legs are yellowish.

They mainly feed on Salix and Crataegus species, but also on leaves of various other plants (Blackthorn Prunus spinosa, Trifolium species, etc.).

At the time of egg-laying they wrap their eggs in an envelope of their own excrement and drop them on the ground from above, manoeuvring with their hind legs.

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