Cryptocephalus sericeus

Life-forms

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Cladus: Protostomia
Cladus: Ecdysozoa
Cladus: Panarthropoda
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Hexapoda
Classis: Insecta
Cladus: Dicondylia
Subclassis: Pterygota
Cladus: Metapterygota
Infraclassis: Neoptera
Cladus: Eumetabola
Cladus: Endopterygota
Superordo: Coleopterida
Ordo: Coleoptera
Subordo: Polyphaga
Infraordo: Cucujiformia
Cladus: Phytophaga
Superfamilia: Chrysomeloidea

Familia: Chrysomelidae
Subfamilia: Cryptocephalinae
Tribus: Cryptocephalini
Subtribus: Cryptocephalina
Genus: Cryptocephalus
Subgenus: Cryptocephalus (Cryptocephalus)
Species: Cryptocephalus sericeus
Name

Cryptocephalus sericeus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Placed on the Official List of Specific Names in Zoology by Opinion 1754.
Synonymy

Chrysomela sericea Linnaeus, 1758: 374
Cryptocephalus pratorum Suffrian, 1847: 131
Cryptocephalus robustus Suffrian, 1853: 113
Cryptocephalus bidens C. G. Thomson, 1868: 274
Cryptocephalus aureolus Seidlitz, 1875: 475 [junior homonym of Cryptocephalus aureolus Suffrian, 1847]
Cryptocephalus coeruleus Weise, 1881: 183 [junior homonym of Cryptocephalus coeruleus Olivier, 1790]
Cryptocephalus sericeus var. purpureicolor Pic, 1914: 11
Cryptocephalus sericeus var. semiviridescens Pic, 1914: 12
Cryptocephalus sericeus monticola f. lydiae Depoli, 1926: 14
Cryptocephalus bidens var. semilimbaticollis Pic, 1941: 15

References
Primary references

ICZN 1994. Opinion 1754. Histoire abrégée des insectes qui se trouve aux environs de Paris (Geoffroy, 1762): some generic names conserved (Crustacea, Insecta). The Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature 51(1): 58–70. BHL. Reference page.
Linnaeus, C. 1758. Systema Naturae per regna tria naturæ, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis, Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata. Holmiæ: impensis direct. Laurentii Salvii. i–ii, 1–824 pp DOI: 10.5962/bhl.title.542: 374. Reference page.
Suffrian, E. 1847. Revision der Europäischen Arten der Gattung Cryptocephalus. Linnaea Entomologica 2: 1–194. BHL.
Thomson, C.G. 1868: Skandinaviens Coleoptera, synoptiskt bearbetade. Tom. X. Lund: Lundbergska Boktryckeriet, 420 pp. BHL Reference page.
Weise, J. 1881. Chrysomelidae. Lieferung 1. Pp. 1–192. In: Naturgeschichte der Insecten Deutschlands. Erste Abteilung Coleoptera. Sechster Band. [1893]. Berlin: Nicolaische Verlags-Buchhandlung, xiv + 1161, 1 pl. [issued in parts]. BHL

Additional references

Löbl, I. & Smetana, A.. 2011. Errata to Volumes 1 to 6. Pp. 23–63. In: Löbl, I. & Smetana, A. (eds) Catalogue of Palaearctic Coleoptera. Volume 7. Curculionoidea I. Apollo Books, Stenstrup, Denmark. 373 pp. ISBN 978-87-88757-93-4. Google Books.
Lopatin, I., Smetana, A. & Schöller, M. 2010. Genus Cryptocephalus Geoffroy, 1762. Pp. 580–606. In: Löbl, I. & Smetana, A. (eds.) Catalogue of Palaearctic Coleoptera. Volume 6. Chrysomeloidea. Apollo Books, Stenstrup, Denmark. 924 pp. ISBN 978-87-88757-84-2. Google Books. Reference page.
Sassi, D. 2014. Taxonomic remarks, phylogeny and evolutionary notes on the leaf beetle species belonging to the Cryptocephalus sericeus complex (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Cryptocephalinae). Zootaxa 3857(3): 333–378. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3857.3.2 Reference page. [zambanellus Marseul, 1875 raised to species rank, intrusus Weise, 1881 synonymised with zambanellus]

Links

Cryptocephalus sericeus Taxon details on Fauna Europaea
ZooBank: 966291DC-DF49-41A8-B403-D8DDB803CF7E
Cryptocephalus sericeus (L., 1758) - photo by D.I. Gavryushin

Vernacular names
Deutsch: Seidiger Fallkäfer, Grünblauer Fallkäfer
lietuvių: Žaliasis paslėptagalvis
Nederlands: Groen steilkopje
русский: Скрытоглав шелковистый

Cryptocephalus sericeus is a species of beetle of the family Chrysomelidae, subfamily Cryptocephalinae.

Subspecies

Subspecies include:[1]

Cryptocephalus sericeus sericeus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Cryptocephalus sericeus zambanellus (Marseul, 1875) (Bosnia, Croatia, Slovenia, Herzegovina, Italy)
Cryptocephalus sericeus intrusus (Weisw, 1882) (Croatia, Italy, Slovenia)

Distribution

This species can be found in most of Europe, in the eastern Palearctic realm from Siberia east to northwestern China, and in the Near East. It is not present in the British Isles.[2]

Habitat

These beetles inhabit lawns and meadows, especially with yellow flowers of Apiaceae species.

Description

Cryptocephalus sericeus can reach a length of about 6–7 millimetres (0.24–0.28 in). The body of these little beetles is squat, cylindrical and almost oval. Elytra are irregularly punctured, not arranged in longitudinal rows. They do not completely cover the last part of the abdomen. Pronotum and elytra are golden green in males, while females show a metallic bronze color, with green-blue, orange or yellow reflections.[3] The antennas are thread-shaped and relatively long. The head, the legs, and antennae are dark colored.

This species is rather similar to Cryptocephalus aureolus, Cryptocephalus praticola, Cryptocephalus solivagus, Cryptocephalus therondi and Cryptocephalus hypochoeridis.
Biolib
Adults can be found from April to July. The feed on pollen, especially on the yellow flowers of Apiaceae species. Larvae feed on leaves of the host plants. They live in a housing that consists of their own droppings. The pupation takes place in the soil.

References

Biolib
Fauna europaea

"Insetti e animali {{in lang|it}}". Archived from the original on 2017-07-09. Retrieved 2017-05-18.

Michael Chinery, Insectes de France et d'Europe occidentale, Paris, Flammarion, 2012, 320 p. (ISBN 978-2-0812-8823-2), p. 282-283
Novak, P., 1964 - I Coleotteri della Dalmazia - Atti Mus. civico Storia Nat., Trieste, 24: 53-113
Petitpierre, E., 2000 - Fauna Iberica. Vol. 13. Coleoptera Chrysomelidae I. - Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas, Madrid, 521 pp.