Description of Genus Altica

Guide to Palearctic Flea Beetle Genera
(Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Alticinae)

Altica Geoffroy

Altica aenescens
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Altica Geoffroy, 1762:244 (type species Chrysomela oleracea L., 1754, Europe, by subsequent designation of Latreille, 1810). - Gressitt & Kimoto, 1963:886. - Kimoto, 1966:627. - Král, 1964a:126; 1964b:162; 1966a:53; 1966b:159; 1969:72. - Lopatin, 1977:220, 1984:336; 1986:91. - Lopatin & Kulenova, 1986:156. - Furth, 1981 (1980):55. - Medvedev, 1982:119, 277. - Gruev & Tomov, 1986:236. - Konstantinov, 1987:42. - Kerzhner, 1991:107. - Kangas & Rutanen, 1993:115. LeSage, 1995:295. - Konstantinov & Vandenberg, 1996:337.

Graptodera Chevrolat in Dejean, 1836:388 (type species Chrysomela oleracea L., 1754, by subsequent designation of Chevrolat, 1845). - Weise, 1882-93(1888):825 (synonymized).

Haltica: Chapuis, 1875:59. - Maulik, 1926:418. - Heikertinger & Csiki in Junk, 1939:215. - Kaszab, 1962:327. - Shapiro, 1965:453. - Mohr, 1966:231.

Statistics: One of the largest genera of Alticinae with more than 300 species, Palearctic about 80 species.

Host Plants: Betula, Calluna, Carduus, Cirsium, Cornus, Corylus, Empetrum, Epilobium, Erica, Eupatorium, Fragaria, Geranium, Glycyrrhiza, Lythrum, Oenothera, Populus, Potentilla, Quercus, Rhododendron, Rosa, Salix, Sanguisorba, Tamarix, Vitis (Medvedev & Roginskaya 1988).

Comments: According to Opinion 1754 of the Commission of Zoological Nomenclature (Bull. Zool. Nom. 1994) the author of the genus Altica is Geoffroy, and the date is 1762. Unfortunately LeSage (1995) has failed to correct the authorship in his recent work and still cites Müller as the author of the genus.

Diagnosis: Body medium sized to large, more or less flat. Color metallic blue, green or violet, sometimes with reddish or bronze lustre.
Head oval, convex from lateral view. Frontal ridge usually narrow and long, forming slightly elevated, angular T-shaped ridge with anterior margin of head capsule. Antennal calli raised, contiguous, oval, well delimited from frontal ridge laterally and from each other by furrows. Furrows delineating antennal calli from vertex sometimes very indistinct. Orbital line present. Interantennal space slightly wider than diameter of antennal socket, but narrower than transverse diameter of eye. Eye usually small. Clypeus long, labrum typical. Antenna 11 segmented, filiform.
Pronotum more or less narrow, with antebasal transverse impression. Procoxal cavity open behind. Intercoxal prosternal process comparatively narrow. Mesosternum wide.
Elytra oval, more or less flat, with well developed humeral calli. Elytral punctures irregularly placed. Epipleuron wide across humeral callus, not reaching posterolateral elytral margin.
Metafemur typical. Metatibia cylindrical, with low longitudinal ridge on dorsal side, apically flat and thickened. Metatarsus inserted apically. First metatarsal segment longer than two but shorter than following three segments combined.


Generic Key	Generic Index	Morphology	Host Plants	Overview of Palearctic Fauna	Literature Cited