Phyllotreta vittula

Approximately 2mm. The elytra are black with longitudinal straw coloured or orangey-yellow stripes.

Other Phyllotreta species

• 1.5-2.1mm
• yellow stripes barely indented (emarginate) in the middle
• tibia bicoloured - yellow at the base and darker on the apical two-thirds
• elytral base more or less the same width as the pronotal base

Detailed examination of the specimen is needed to identify the species (a photograph alone is not normally sufficient because key features are too small or hidden) and/or there are one or more similar species and confusion is common.

Margins of arable fields and roadside verges

March to October.

Widespread in the southern half of Britain.

Infrequently recorded in Leicestershire & Rutland although its numbers may be increasing