Oreina speciosa is a species of broad-shouldered leaf beetles of the family Chrysomelidae, subfamily Chrysomelinae.

Oreina speciosa
Oreina speciosa excellens – male
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Family: Chrysomelidae
Genus: Oreina
Species:
O. speciosa
Binomial name
Oreina speciosa
Synonyms
  • Chrysochloa vittigera Suffrian, 1851
  • Chrysomela speciosa Linnaeus, 1767
  • Chrysochloa gloriosa (Fabricius, 1781)

This alpine leaf beetle lives in the Pyrenees, Massif Central, Jura, Vosges, Alps, Apennines and Balkans.

The adults are 9–13 millimetres (0.35–0.51 in) long. The colours of the elytra of this beetle are very variable, with varieties completely blue, purple, black or else bright metallic green crossed by longitudinal blue or red (or both) stripes.

It can be found on various Apiaceae species, mainly of the genus Laserpitium, Heracleum, Chaerophyllum, Peucedanum and Angelica. The activity period is June–August.

Subspecies

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  • O. speciosa bosniaca Apfelbeck, 1912
  • O. speciosa excellens Weise, 1907
  • O. speciosa ganglbaueri Jakob, 1953
  • O. speciosa huberi Bechyné, 1958
  • O. speciosa lugdunensis Weise, 1907
  • O. speciosa pretiosa Suffrian, 1851
  • O. speciosa pseudoliturata G. Müller, 1916
  • O. speciosa speciosa (Linnaeus, 1767)

References

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  • Bontems, C., 1981 - Les especes de Linne et Fabricius du genre Oreina Chevrolat, 1837 (Col. Chrysomelidae, Chrysomelinae) - Nouv. Rev. Ent. 11: 93-109
  • Host-Plant Switches and the Evolution of Chemical Defense and Life History in the Leaf Beetle Genus Oreina. In: Evolution. 50, Nr. 6, Dezember 1996
  • Triponez, Y., 2011 - Discordances between phylogenetic and morphological patterns in alpine leaf beetles attest to an intricate biogeographic history of lineages in postglacial Europe. - Mol.Ecol.20(11): 2442-2463
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