Forest insect question: beetles on Sierra Gooseberry - Ask Extension
These little metallic blue beetles were rampant on a flowering Sierra Gooseberry a week or two ago along FR 1910 at about 2500'. I tried to ID them on...
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Forest insect question: beetles on Sierra Gooseberry #829478
Asked May 11, 2023, 11:30 AM EDT
These little metallic blue beetles were rampant on a flowering Sierra Gooseberry a week or two ago along FR 1910 at about 2500'. I tried to ID them on iNaturalist and BugGuide, but didn't find a beetle that matched the description AND host plant for adults or larvae. They seem to be eating leaves and flowers. I have additional photos that demonstrate this, but they aren't downloaded yet to the phone I'm using to post this.
Lane County Oregon
Expert Response
Hi,
I can't get you to species, but those appear to be a particular type of leaf beetle (Family: Chrysomelidae) called a flea beetle (Chrysomelidae: Galerucinae: Alticini). To figure out more, you would need the help of an entomologist who specializes in leaf beetles.
Dr. Shawn Clark at Brigham Young University is a leaf beetle expert. Here is his webpage if you would like to try to contact him.
https://biology.byu.edu/directory/shawn-clark
He may be able to ID those beetles from your photos and the host plant information, but may need to examine actual specimens to be certain.
Pretty beetles! Enjoy!
Yours,
I can't get you to species, but those appear to be a particular type of leaf beetle (Family: Chrysomelidae) called a flea beetle (Chrysomelidae: Galerucinae: Alticini). To figure out more, you would need the help of an entomologist who specializes in leaf beetles.
Dr. Shawn Clark at Brigham Young University is a leaf beetle expert. Here is his webpage if you would like to try to contact him.
https://biology.byu.edu/directory/shawn-clark
He may be able to ID those beetles from your photos and the host plant information, but may need to examine actual specimens to be certain.
Pretty beetles! Enjoy!
Yours,
Hey Bill,
Just to update you on case you couldn't sleep at night for wondering what happened about my leaf beetle ID: I followed your advice back then and reached out to Dr. Shawn Clark at BYU, and he responded promptly. We have been in touch regularly since then, and he ID'd the beetles, which were a first official find in Oregon (originally found in Napa, CA), and first official observation of host plant. He is working on a brief paper to put in a journal.
Thanks once again for putting me in touch with him!
That is terrific, Merlla!!
Nice that you and Shawn were able to work together on this and are documenting something nobody else ever noticed before.
Good work!! Thanks for letting me know about your progress.
Nice that you and Shawn were able to work together on this and are documenting something nobody else ever noticed before.
Good work!! Thanks for letting me know about your progress.
