Texas Beetle Information

Return to Texas Entomology - Compiled by Mike Quinn

Shiny Flea Beetle

Asphaera lustrans (Crotch, 1873)

Family Chrysomelidae, Subfamily Galerucinae, Tribe Alticini

Wild Basin Wilderness Preserve, Traivs County, Texas
May 26, 2010 (M. Quinn)

Texas County Records for Asphaera lustrans

County Record Source: E.G. Riley, Dec. 2005

State Records for Asphaera lustrans

State Record Source: (Riley et al, 2003)

Range:

Common from Arizona to Texas, north to Nebraska and Iowa; south to Mexico.
Introduced into Florida, and has recently expanded its range across southeastern US.

Adult Activity: Year round in South Texas

Hosts: Scutellaria - Skullcap - Mint Family Lamiaceae

S. drummondii - Central Texas
S. wrightii - North Texas

Similar Species: Two species of this large Neotropical genus occur north of Mexico. (Riley et al, 2003)

Asphaera abdominalis (Chevrolat) - restricted to AZ north of Mexico
Asphaera lustrans (Crotch)

Photo: Larval shot - BugGuide.Net

Etymology: Asphaera lustrans (Crotch, 1873)

lustr (L). Shining, pure, washed

Biography: George Robert Crotch (1842 - 1874) - Wikipedia

References:

Arnett, R.H., Jr., M.C. Thomas, P.E. Skelley & J.H. Frank. (editors). 2002. American Beetles, Volume II: Polyphaga: Scarabaeoidea through Curculionoidea. CRC Press. 861 pp.

Borror, D.J. 1960. Dictionary of Word Roots and Combining Forms. National Press Books, Palo Alto. 134 pp.

Clark, S.M., D.G. LeDoux, T.N. Seeno, E.G. Riley, A.J. Gilbert & J.M. Sullivan. 2004. Host plants of leaf beetle species occurring in the United States and Canada (Coleoptera: Megalopodidae, Orsodacnidae, Chrysomelidae exclusive of Bruchinae). Coleopterists Society, Special Publication no. 2, 476 pp.

Crotch, G.R. 1873. Check List of the Coleoptera of America, North of Mexico. Naturalists Agency, Salem, Mass. 136 pp.

Horn, H. 1889. A synopsis of the Halticini of boreal America. Transactions of the American Entomological Society 16: 163-320.

Riley, E.G., S.M. Clark, & T.N. Seeno. 2003. Catalog of the leaf beetles of America north of Mexico (Coleoptera: Megalopodidae, Orsodacnidae and Chrysomelidae, excluding Bruchinae). Coleopterists Society, Special Publication no. 1, 290 pp.

Smart, J. & B. Wager. 1977. George Robert Crotch, 1842–1874: a bibliography with a biographical note. Journal of the Society for the Bibliography of Natural History 8(3): 244–248.