Epitrix Foudras, 1860

1.2-1.9 mm. Elongate-oval and convex, body shiny black, elytra black with large orange or red maculae behind the shoulders and before the apex, legs pale brown with the posterior femora dark and the middle and front femora variably darkened, antennae extensively pale but darker towards the apex. Head and pronotal margins – at least along the base – and elytral interstices with pale pubescence. Head transverse with large convex eyes and deep and sharp oblique furrows from the posterior margin of the eyes, frontal tubercles small and narrow. Antennae filiform with all segments elongate, the small third segment barely so. Pronotum transverse, broadest in front of obtuse posterior angles and narrowed to a rounded (from above) apical margin, calli below the anterior lateral margin short and broadest posteriorly. Surface evenly and quite strongly punctured, without microsculpture, transverse basal impression usually well-defined between short longitudinal impressions from the base. Elytra dilated and broadest behind the middle, with finely rounded, sometimes distinctly angled, shoulders and a continuous apical margin, striae strongly punctured and continued almost to the apex; the sutural stria extending well beyond the middle, interstices slightly convex, very finely punctured and without microsculpture. Hind femora much broader than the front and middle femora, hind tibia with a single spur at the inner apical angle, front and middle tibiae without obvious spurs. Tarsi pseudotetramerous.

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Epitrix pubescens (Koch, J.W.D., 1803)

Bittersweet Flea Beetle

A local but very widespread Palaearctic species occurring throughout Europe north to the UK and southern provinces of Fennoscandia, to the south it occurs on most of the Mediterranean islands, the Azores and is present in Israel, Iran and through Asia Minor, it is common across western Russia and extends through Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan to Siberia and further into the eastern Palaearctic region, it has also become established in the United States and appears to be spreading, the earliest record being from 1975. In the UK it seems to have become more frequent over recent decades, it is now locally common across England north to Yorkshire but very local and mostly coastal in the West Country and Wales including Anglesey. Adults are present throughout the year; they overwinter among tussocks and leaf-litter etc. and are active over a long season from March or April until September or October, peaking in abundance during the spring and again from August when the new generation appears. They occur in a wide range of habitats; often wetland margins and damp woodland and grassland but commonly on light chalky or sandy soils and coastal dunes and shingle, they are quick to colonise disturbed sites such as gardens and allotments and may occur in flight-interception traps almost anywhere. Host plants include various Solonaceae, usually Bittersweet (Solanum dulcamarae L.) but also Black Nightshade (S. nigrum L.), Red Nightshade (S. villosum Miller), Deadly Nightshade (Atropa belladonna L.), Henbane (Hyoscyamus niger L.) and various cultivated plants such as Tomato and Tobaccos. The common name applies to various members of the genus which are known to feed on potato, adults of the present species will consume potato foliage and they have been occasional minor pests in warmer regions such as Southern Europe and Turkey, but it is not known whether potato is a larval host. Mating occurs early in the season after a period of feeding, and oviposition continues through May and June. The oviposition site is not known but larvae develop in roots, pupation occurs in a subterranean cell from July and there is a single generation each year. Sampling is easiest by sweeping bittersweet; adults usually occur in large numbers and may sometimes be seen swarming on the foliage, they often occur in flight-interception traps and sometimes remote from host plants.

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1.2-2.0 mm. Long-oval and discontinuous in outline, body rather shiny black or very dark brown, legs pale brown with the hind femora dark and the middle and front femora and tarsi variously darkened, antennae dark with at least four basal segments pale brown. Head with large, weakly convex eyes, narrow frontal tubercles and deep frontal grooves. Antennae 11-segmented and filiform, all segments elongate. Pronotum transverse, broadest near the base and narrowed to long calli outside the rounded (from above) anterior angles, posterior angles perpendicular and basal margin produced about the middle, surface evenly and rather strongly punctured throughout and with very fine microsculpture. Sub-basal transverse furrow distinct between short longitudinal impressions, surface substantially glabrous but for scattered pubescence along the basal margin and sometimes laterally. Elytra with a distinct swelling inside the sloping shoulders, lateral margins smoothly curved to a continuous apical margin, striae strongly punctured almost to the apex except for the sutural striae which ends, or becomes weaker, just beyond the middle, interstices finely punctured and pubescent. Hind femora enlarged, hind tibiae with a single spur at the inner apical angle, the other tibiae without obvious spurs. All tarsi pseudotetramerous. Claws smooth and distinctly toothed at the base.