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Project Noah Nature School
Calligrapha pantherina
Small metallic beetles ranging from 6-10mm. Some were green & yellow & some were plain brown with black markings.
Found on Sida acuta. (Spiny head Sida )
Spotted on Jun 29, 2012
Submitted on Jun 29, 2012
17 Comments
Oh just found this one. Must have been a surprise.
Thanks Martin, that's awesome & thanks for the weed ID too :)
Thank you Leanne.
See your beetle featured here
https://sites.google.com/site/leafbeetle...
You now know the name of the weed foodplant.
A belated thank you for all your help Luis & Anne Marie McCaffrey. I'll update it now :)
Yes I see it, thanks Anne Marie
It seems the Calligrapha species that was introduced to Australia as weed control ( as martini mentions) is Calligrapha pantherina. If you look at the pattern of markings of C. dislocata vs the markings of C. pantherina I think you can see C. pantherina is a much better match for this spotting...
Luis and Leanne, there are number of species in the genus Calligrapha, and in another genus, Zygogramma, that have similar markings. I think it is important to look at the pattern of the markings. I'm not convinced this one is C. dislocata...
Leanne it is the same spotting as mine http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/127...
But I got a different scientific name Calligrapha serpentina, but it has the same markings.
very nice spotting Leanne
Thank you Jeanette & Karen :)
Gorgeous Leanne!
Beautiful :)
Thank you MacC :)
Another great pic Leanne, you are getting a great collection together
Thank you Gerardo & thank you very very much Martin. I wish you were here to see them too! I don't remember seeing this beetle before but I'm really interested to read up about him now you have told me his story. I wonder if it's the weed I found them all on, they were really making a meal of it! Your comments & encouragement mean so much to me & make me strive to find more. I love learning something new every day. Thank you so much.
Leanne. I am envious of you and your spotting of this beetle. I recognize this as a calligraphy beetle, based on the ornate and variable patterns on its back. They are all from USA but this one was introduced into Queensland to eat one of your weed species (Check the link). I guess this one was quite successful. Good work, champion spotter.
Wow another cool spotting!