Chrysolina Leaf Beetles in Nottinghamshire
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Chrysolina leaf beetles (Chrysomelidae) are fairly conspicuous by nature and colouration. There are a total of 18 Chrysolina species in the UK, nearly half of which are classed as RDB or Nationally notable species. As their name implies, they are all leaf feeding species and often readily found by carefully searching low foliage.

As with finding many leaf beetles, any success depends on searching the correct plants and/or in the correct habitat. Sweeping is probably the most efficient method, but careful examination of foliage can be equally successful, if not more time consuming.

The eggs are elongated and oval shaped, usually laid singly or in small groups on the host plant and the developing larvae are grub-like. Pupation takes place either on the host plant or at ground level in leaf litter.

  
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Over-wintering is mostly as adults and we have found several examples of Chrysolina polita spending the Winter underneath loose bark of felled Willow logs at Eakring Meadows NR (shown below) often in company with other beetles such as Pterostichus niger, Pterostichus nigrita (Carabidae) and Silpha atrata (Silphidae). The only other Chrysolina we have ever recorded during the Winter months, was an adult Chrysolina oricalcia found wandering at the base of a tree, on a mild night at the end of November 2008 in Sherwood Forest Country Park.  
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A checklist of Nottinghamshire Chrysolina
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CHRYSOLINA Motschulsky, 1860
Chrysolina americana (Linnaeus, 1758)
Chrysolina brunsvicensis (Gravenhorst, 1807)
Chrysolina fastuosa (Scopoli, 1763)
Chrysolina herbacea (Duftschmid, 1825)
Chrysolina hyperici (Forster, 1771)
Chrysolina marginata (Linnaeus, 1758)
Chrysolina oricalcia (Müller, O.F., 1776)
Chrysolina polita (Linnaeus, 1758)
Chrysolina staphylaea (Linnaeus, 1758)
Chrysolina sturmi (Müller, O.F., 1776)
Chrysolina varians (Schaller, 1783)
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Nottinghamshire's Chrysolina list totals 11 species. All of these, with the exception of C. americana, C. marginata and C.varians, were listed by J.W. Carr in his book "The Invertebrate Fauna of Nottinghamshire" (1916).

Species photographs

We have currently managed to locate and photograph seven of the 11 Chrysolina species that are known to occur in Nottinghamshire (VC56). At the bottom of this page, we have included images of Chrysolina banksi, a large beetle which has yet to occur in Nottinghamshire, but we consider to be very likely at some point in time.
 
Chrysolina americana (Linnaeus, 1758)
This is a stunning and beautiful beetle, showing a rainbow like colouration when viewed closely, although at first glance, this beetle appears dark brown. Chrysolina americana is another invertebrate that has appeared in the UK only relatively recently. Despite its Latin name, this beetle does not originate from America, but was originally a southern European species. It first appeared in the UK in the 1990's and has steadily spread north since. Nottinghamshire's first records seem to have occurred in 2009 from sites in Nottingham and Newark. This was a beetle we had looked for during the last few years and our first record came when six adults were found in the courtyard of the old Edwinstowe Craft Centre, now home to the Sherwood Forest Trust on 01/06/11. The adults are around 8-9mm and can potentially be found on Rosemary, Lavender and other herbs.
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Chrysolina brunsvicensis (Gravenhorst, 1807) 
Chrysolina brunsvicensis has always proved to been historically rare in Nottinghamshire, with records prior to 2021 from Attenborough in 1903 and Barrow Hill Wood in 1908. After much searching personally and checking any Chrysolina hyperici found over recent years, Chrysolina brunsvicensis was suddenly found at Blidworth Woods by David Shaw in October 2021. David then found it at Hangar Hill Plantation and near Budby Pumping Station in November 2021 while I turned it up at Carburton Border and then Clipstone Old Quarter.

Very similar to the much commoner Chrysolina hyperici (the two species have been found together at at least one Nottinghamshire site) with differences in the puncturation being the best indicator of species, but specimens showing a beautiful claret colouration usually prove to be C. brunsvicensis. It seems to prefer St John's Wort (Hypericum sp) growing along the sides of forest tracks.
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Chrysolina fastuosa (Scopoli, 1763)
Chrysolina fastuosa is a stunning beetle and a species which, despite some people telling us it's common, it certainly does'nt seem to be. Despite knowing of one site at Shelford in the Trent Valley where it can be found on White Dead-nettle (Lamium album) we searched everywhere we went for nearly two years, before finding numerous adults on Common Hemp Nettle (Galeopsis tetrahit) growing by the River Meden in early July 2011.
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Chrysolina hyperici (Forster, 1771)
A common UK species, Chrysolina hyperici is a beautifully coloured metallic beetle. The adults can be found wherever St John's Wort (Hypericum sp) grows, eating the flowers and resting amongst the flower heads during the day. We have found adults at Warsop Main Pit Top, Bevercotes Pit Wood, Gedling Pit Top, Sherwood Forest CP, Clipstone Old Quarter and Budby South Forest and it is generally very common where it occurs. Probably most former colliery sites will host them. Length around 7mm. Historically, this beetle has been recorded from South Leverton (Thornley) Barrow Hills, Everton (Chamberlin 1905) and Cuckney Hay Wood in 1914.
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Chrysolina marginata (Linnaeus, 1758)
A rare leaf beetle in Nottinghamshire, although accurate determination of its true county and UK status, is made more difficult through the nocturnal habits of this species. Feeding on Yarrow (Achillia millefolium), Chrysolina marginata is known to have occurred on just one previous occasion in Nottinghamshire, when found on the Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust's Skylarks Reserve at Holme Pierrepont in 2011. Our chance discovery of this beetle at Warsop Main Pit Top in September 2014, could mean that Chrysolina marginata is present at other former colliery sites across the county.
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Chrysolina oricalcia (Müller, O.F., 1776)
Chrysolina oricalcia seems to be a common species where it occurs, but it is restricted in Nottinghamshire. We have only found it occasionally at a few areas of Sherwood Forest CP and at nearby Clipstone Old Quarter. Despite being around 9mm in length, this is not always that easy a species to spot on the stems of Cow Parsley. It seems that like most Chrysolinas, the adults over-winter (probably underneath loose bark or in leaf litter) as we found an adult climbing the trunk of an Oak, during a moth-trapping session at Sherwood Forest CP on November 28th 2008.
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Chrysolina polita (Linnaeus, 1758)
A fairly common species, Chrysolina polita is found fairly regularly in the Eakring area on low-growing vegetation, usually around areas of White dead-Nettle (Lamium album). About 9mm in length, it's bright colouration makes it quite conspicuous when sitting on the upper surface of leaves on sunny days. Over-wintering adults have been found several times under the loose bark of felled Willow logs at Eakring Meadows NR. Uncommon at Sherwood Forest and only recently discovered there for the first time in 2009. C. polita seems to have been quite widely recorded historically in Nottinghamshire, with J.W. Carr quoting records from some 15 sites, ranging from Misson in the very north of the county, through to Cotgrave south of Nottingham.
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Chrysolina staphylaea (Linnaeus, 1758)
Chrysolina staphylaea is sometimes more commonly known as the Brown Willow Beetle. This seems a fairly large Chrysolina species, with the one pictured measuring 9.5mm. Our only records are from Sherwood Forest CP in early June 2009 and at Cuckney Hay Wood in October 2012. Historical records of C. staphylaea have come from Retford district (Thornley and Pegler) South Leverton, Barrow Hills at Everton, Nottingham district (Ryles and Dodd) and Tollerton (Robinson 1914)
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Chrysolina banksi (Fabricius, 1775)
This large and conspicuous Chrysolina is currently not known from anywhere in Nottinghamshire, but does have the potential to occur here. During an invertebrate survey of a former landfill site at Dartford, Kent in September 2012, singles or mating pairs were regularly found on concrete walls around the site. Adults can be found on their hostplants which are Black Horehound (Ballota nigra) and Narrow-leaved Plantain (Plantago lanceolata).
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