red-headed flea beetle

not listed

NNR - Unranked

not listed

Red-headed flea beetle is a small, common, flea beetle. It occurs in the United States and southern Canada east of the Great Plains. Adults are generalist feeders and can be found on a wide variety of plants, including common dandelion, dogbane, foxtail, giant ragweed, Joe-Pye weed, lambsquarters, pigweed, red clover, smartweed, thistle, touch-me-not, and velvetleaf. The larvae live in the soil and feed on roots and underground stems (rhizomes).

Red-headed flea beetle is a serious pest of woody and herbaceous ornamental plants in nurseries. It creates unsightly perforations in leaves, which make the plants unsellable.

Adults are ⅛″ to ¼″ (3.0 to 6.5 mm) in length. The body is shiny, moderately elongated, parallel-sided, and somewhat depressed, flat when viewed from the side.

The head is red or reddish-yellow and is clearly visible from above. The antennae are slender, thread-like, half as long as the body, and slightly widened at the tip. They have 11 segments. Segments 3, 4, and 5 are dull yellow, the remaining segments are more or less brownish-black. Segment 2 is shorter than segment 3 and longer than segment 4. Segment 5 is longer than segments 4 and 6. The mouthparts are directed downwards. The eyes are not notched.

The exoskeletal plate covering the thorax (pronotum) is black, wider than the head, rectangular, about one-third wider than long, and weakly curved on the sides. The front corners are cut off (truncate) at an oblique angle. The rear corners are acutely angled. The surface is minutely wrinkled and moderately pitted (punctate). The sides are narrowly flattened (margined).

The hardened wing covers (elytra) are wider at the base than the pronotum. They are entirely black, moderately punctate, and very narrowly margined on the sides. They do not have a distinct downward slope at the rear (apical declivity).

The legs are black and relatively short. On the hind leg the third segment (femur) is enlarged for jumping. The last part of each leg (tarsus), corresponding to the foot, has five segments. The fourth segment is very short and is concealed within the broadened tip of the third segment, making the tarsus appear to have only four segments. There is a pair of equally sized claws at the tip of the tarsus.

⅛″ to ¼″ (3.0 to 6.5 mm)

One generation per year in the wild: July to September

Up to four generations per year in nurseries: May to October

Like all flea beetles, adults jump when disturbed.

Single, pale yellow eggs are deposited in the soil, where they overwinter. They require a chilling period of at least fifteen weeks before hatching, though a small percentage will hatch without the chilling period.

Plant roots and rhizomes

Leaves of a wide variety of plants, including common dandelion, dogbane, foxtail, giant ragweed, Joe-Pye weed, lambsquarters, pigweed, red clover, smartweed, thistle, touch-me-not, and velvetleaf.

Sources

27, 29, 30, 82, 83.

Location: Albany, NY