Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Suborder: Polyphaga
Superfamily: Chrysomeloidea
Family: Chrysomelidae
Common name: Leaf beetles
The family Chrysomelidae, commonly known as leaf beetles, includes over 37,000 (and probably at least 50,000) species in more than 2,500 genera, making it one of the largest and most commonly encountered of all beetle families. Numerous subfamilies are recognized.
Adult and larval leaf beetles feed on all sorts of plant tissue, and all species are fully herbivorous. Many are serious pests of cultivated plants, and others are beneficial due to their use in biocontrol of invasive weeds. Some Chrysomelidae is conspicuously coloured, typically in glossy yellow to red or metallic blue-green hues.
This little 5 mm beetle was feeding on St John’s wort flowers buds in Wanaka, Otago late December
Thanks to Wikipedia for text and information: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
