Large Striped Flea Beetle - Phyllotreta nemorum

2.5-3mm. The black elytra are marked with broad pale yellow longitudinal stripes that are roughly parallel in shape. Pronotum is black. Antennae are pitchy brown to black. All tibia are unicoloured - dark brown to black. The hind tarsi can be pale.

• 2.5-3mm
• black elytra with 2 broad pale yellow longitudinal stripes that are roughly parallel in shape
• pronotum black.
• antennae not distinctly bicoloured (may have few segments slightly paler)
• all tibia are unicoloured - dark brown to black (only the hind tarsi are generally pale)

It is a pest of brassicas including turnips, the adults feeding mainly on seedlings, leaving them riddled with holes. For this reason it is often found in agricultural fields where brassicas are grown, but also in gardens etc.

Spring to late autumn when the adults hibernate.

Adults hibernate and emerge in spring to breed and lay their eggs. The larvae tunnel in leaves and become new adults in the autumn.

Fairly common and widespread in England and Wales, but fewer records from Scotland.

Occasional in Leicestershire and Rutland. There were a total of 10 VC55 records for this species up to March 2015.