Chrysolina cerealis
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| Chrysolina cerealis | ||||||||||||||
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| Chrysolina cerealis (Linnaeus, 1767) |
Chrysolina cerealis, the rainbow leaf beetle or Snowdon beetle, is a brightly-coloured Eurasian leaf beetle. It is found in montane grassland from Norway to northern Italy, and from Ussuri in the east to Snowdonia (Wales) in the west [1]. It lives on base-rich screes and lays its eggs on grasses such as Agrostis capillaris and Festuca ovina, although it mostly feeds on the wild thyme Thymus polytrichus [2], preferring the flowers to the leaves. The beetle is 5½–10 mm long [3], with elytra striped red, gold, green and blue [2]. Females are typically larger than males [3].
[edit] In Wales
Within Wales, C. cerealis is found at only a few sites on the western flanks of Snowdon, and perhaps in Cwm Idwal in the neighbouring Glyderau [2]. The population is thought to be genetically distinct, and the species is classified as endangered in the UK and protected under Schedule 5 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act, 1981 [4]. The species has not been found since 1980 in Cwm Idwal, and some reports consider the Snowdon population of about 1000 adults to be in "serious decline" [2], while others say that there is no evidence of a decline, but that the species may always have been rare [3].
[edit] References
- ^ Lech Borowiec. Chrysolina cerealis (Linnaeus, 1767).
- ^ a b c d Ben McCarthy & Kate Van Den Ende (2006). Snowdon Beetle (Chrysolina cerealis). Snowdonia National Park Authority.
- ^ a b c Chrysolina cerealis. ARKive.
- ^ Rainbow leaf beetle (Chrysolina cerealis). UK Biodiversity Group Tranche 2 Action Plans - Volume IV: Invertebrates (1999).
