Willow Flea Beetle - Crepidodera aurata

Size about 3 mm. This leaf flea beetle has an overall shiny metallic appearance and is bicoloured; the head and pronotum being a reddish or coppery bronze edged by green or blue, whilst the elytra are uniformly green or blue-green and are studded by rows of holes.

Frequents various species of Willow and may be found wherever Willows grow.

All year round, but most active from spring to autumn.

There is a single generation and adults occur throughout the year, hibernating under bark or among debris etc around logs. They become active early in the spring and may be swept from trees around the time the leaf buds begin to open.

Frequent and widely distributed below a line from north Wales to Middlesbrough, further north there are a few records from Cumbria, Dumfries and Galloway and Glasgow.

Fairly frequent in Leicestershire and Rutland. There were a total of 61 VC55 records for this species up to March 2015.