Phyllotreta striolata (Fabricius, 1801)[]
Arthropods (Arthropoda)----Insects (Insecta)---Beetles (Coleoptera)----Polyphaga----Chrysomeloidea----Leaf beetles (Chrysomelidae)----Galerucinae----Flea beetles (Alticini)---Phyllotreta---P. striolata
Date/ Month, 2008. Edmonton.
The Striped Flea beetle is probably one of the most well-known garden pests. As most gardeners will also discover is that these are near impossible to catch. The enlarged hind leg femora of flea beetles make them well adapted to jump into the air, with very few species not being able to and they are very hard to approach and when they jump their small size makes them disappear instantly.
Size[]
Adults ~1.9-2.3mm.
Variation[]
This species occasionally has the yellow bands/ stripes broken up into four seperate spots. A similar species, P. zimmermani, has much thinner stripes. P. zimmermani is basically the native counterpart of the introduced species featured on this page.