Metallic Flea Beetle

Alticini

Description:

This beetle is very small. I did not manage to measure it and only got one photo, before it flew off. The pectinate antennae, I think, indicate that it is a male, but that does not help with identification. There are several pictures, on the internet, which look pretty much the same as this one, as far as the head, the thorax and the elytra are concerned. So, I thought that I would just have to find which one of them had distribution in the Philippines, but I soon realized that none of the candidates had the reddish brown legs. That "little detail" has me stumped, for now.

Habitat:

This Metallic Flea Beetle was spotted in the farm on a leaf of Tropical Whiteweed (Ageratum conyzoides Linn.) known in the Philippines by various names in many dialects. In our local dialect, this plant is called Salunay. Plant information - http://stuartxchange.com/Bulak.html....

Species ID Suggestions

4 Comments

John B. a week ago

Hi Mark, thank you very much for your comment. It is, indeed "interesting" to see a member of the tribe Alticini with feathered antennae, but (as I am sure you know) there are a few. Some of them can be viewed in https://uk.inaturalist.org/taxa/622582-P........ but your comment made me look at my spotting again and I am now a little comcerned that it might not be Alticini. I think I was influenced too much by the fact that this beetle is very small and very iridescent. The rear leg thighs don't look right. So, I will have to check some more and try to get it right. I don't want to change the ID just yet for fear of making it worse, but I will fix it as soon as I can. Thanks again for bringing it to my attention.