All Calligrapha share common features such as an oval, rounded form, an unjointed terminal tarsal joint without teeth underneath, and divergent claws. has white elytra with dark markings arranged in a pattern of longer lines, smaller curving lines, and dots which are described in its Latin name meaning "beautiful + writing." is usually 8 to 9 mm in length. It has elytra with a thin subsutural line. The body of this beetle is robust, convex, and shiny. The aedeagus of the male has lateral apical spiculi and does not have an apical truncate projection. Egg coloration of varies from creamy white to coral. (Arnett, 1960; Blatchley, 1910; Jaques, 1971)
Adults hibernate during the winter in the ground or sheltered within the bark of trees. Upon the arrival of spring, mating and oviposition occur during which single or multiple eggs can be laid. Approximately a week after oviposition occurs in May or June, larva emerge, feed quickly, and pupate shortly thereafter in the soil. Adults emerge around early July and feed until late September. They then overwinter until the following spring. (Robertson, 1966)
Calligrapha is highly variable in terms of intra and inter-specific sex ratio. In some similar species, female-producing parthenogenesis may occur, indicated by the high ratio of females to males. In past collections of , females have made up 50% to 100% of the collection, suggesting this species may also be parthenogenic. (Robertson, 1966)utilizes diploid bisexual reproduction. Eggs are laid either singly or in masses of up to 32 eggs. Over the course of a season, a female can lay between 100 and 450 eggs. Most eggs are generally deposited before June.
Calligrapha are sister species. will mate with other species, C. rowena and C. vicina (which utilizes tetraploid parthenogenesis). A population of has been known to mate with another population differing only in supernumerary chromosomes. Robertson (1966) finds that there is variation in whether or not the spermatogonial complement of contained supernumerary chromosomes. Variation of the supernumerary chromosomes within the study ranged from 0 to 10 in Ottawa, Canada, whereas in Quebec the study found that spermatogonial complements contained 22 autosomes, one X chromosome, and an average of seven supernumerary chromosomes. This polymorphism may be an adaptation that helps populations survive and is an indicator of potential speciation. (Robertson, 1966)is a bisexual diploid. Little study has focused on identifying whether certain species of
Other than provisioning of eggs, there is no parental involvement in this species.
It takes approximately 2 to 3 months for (Robertson, 1966)to develop from an egg to an adult. After emerging from pupation, adults continue to feed for another 2 to 3 months until overwintering and emerging again the following spring.
Cornus stolonifera and Cornus obliqua. (Robertson, 1966)feeds on the leaves of dogwood plants,
No information is available on this topic.
Chrysomelidae, including are important phytophagous beetles which are host-specific in terrestrial habitats and modify their ecosystems in a host-specific way. specifically effects the population of dogwood plants, Cornus stolonifera and Cornus obliqua, as the beetles devour the plant leaves. (Robertson, 1966)
There are no known positive effects ofon humans.
There are no known adverse affects ofon humans.
has no special conservation status.
Rachael Gingerich (author), University of Michigan Biological Station, Angela Miner (editor), Animal Diversity Web Staff, Brian Scholtens (editor), University of Michigan Biological Station.
living in the Nearctic biogeographic province, the northern part of the New World. This includes Greenland, the Canadian Arctic islands, and all of the North American as far south as the highlands of central Mexico.
having body symmetry such that the animal can be divided in one plane into two mirror-image halves. Animals with bilateral symmetry have dorsal and ventral sides, as well as anterior and posterior ends. Synapomorphy of the Bilateria.
uses smells or other chemicals to communicate
a period of time when growth or development is suspended in insects and other invertebrates, it can usually only be ended the appropriate environmental stimulus.
animals which must use heat acquired from the environment and behavioral adaptations to regulate body temperature
union of egg and spermatozoan
an animal that mainly eats leaves.
forest biomes are dominated by trees, otherwise forest biomes can vary widely in amount of precipitation and seasonality.
An animal that eats mainly plants or parts of plants.
having a body temperature that fluctuates with that of the immediate environment; having no mechanism or a poorly developed mechanism for regulating internal body temperature.
the state that some animals enter during winter in which normal physiological processes are significantly reduced, thus lowering the animal's energy requirements. The act or condition of passing winter in a torpid or resting state, typically involving the abandonment of homoiothermy in mammals.
fertilization takes place within the female's body
offspring are produced in more than one group (litters, clutches, etc.) and across multiple seasons (or other periods hospitable to reproduction). Iteroparous animals must, by definition, survive over multiple seasons (or periodic condition changes).
A large change in the shape or structure of an animal that happens as the animal grows. In insects, "incomplete metamorphosis" is when young animals are similar to adults and change gradually into the adult form, and "complete metamorphosis" is when there is a profound change between larval and adult forms. Butterflies have complete metamorphosis, grasshoppers have incomplete metamorphosis.
having the capacity to move from one place to another.
the area in which the animal is naturally found, the region in which it is endemic.
reproduction in which eggs are released by the female; development of offspring occurs outside the mother's body.
development takes place in an unfertilized egg
the kind of polygamy in which a female pairs with several males, each of which also pairs with several different females.
breeding is confined to a particular season
remains in the same area
reproduction that includes combining the genetic contribution of two individuals, a male and a female
living in residential areas on the outskirts of large cities or towns.
that region of the Earth between 23.5 degrees North and 60 degrees North (between the Tropic of Cancer and the Arctic Circle) and between 23.5 degrees South and 60 degrees South (between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Antarctic Circle).
Living on the ground.
uses sight to communicate
Arnett, R. 1960. The beetles of the United States. Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press.
Blatchley, W. 1910. Catalogue of the Coleoptera of Indiana. Indianapolis, Indiana: WM. B. Burford, Contractor for State Publishing and Printing.
Dickinson, J. 1997. Multiple mating, sperm competition, and cryptic female choice in the leaf beetles. Pp. 164-183 in J Choe, B Crespi, eds. The Evolution of mating systems in insects and arachnids. Cambridge, United Kingdom: The Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge.
Jaques, H. 1971. How to know the beetles. United States of America: WM. C. Brown Company Publishers.
Mitchell, B. 1988. Adult leaf beetles as models for exploring the chemical basis of host-plant recognition. Insect Physiology, 34: 213-225.
Robertson, J. 1966. The chromosomes of bisexual and parthenogenetic species of Calligrapha (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) with notes on sex ratio, abundance and egg number. Canadian Journal of Genetics and Cytology, 8: 695-732.