Metachroma luridum (Olivier 1808)

Metachroma luridum (Olivier)

Colaspis lurida Olivier, 1808, p. 892.

Metachroma vicinum Crotch, 1873, p. 45.

Metachroma luridum Horn, 1892, pp. 217, 218.

DESCRIPTION.—Between 3.5 and 4.0 mm in length, oblong oval, shining, yellow-brown with dark occiput, often dark prothorax, and elytra having a lateral or marginal darkening, sometimes beetle entirely pale yellow brown; prothorax densely punctate, elytra with striate punctures fine and fading at apex.

Head with interocular space a little less than half width of head, usually dark on occiput, yellow or reddish brown on front, coarsely and densely punctate, a slight transverse sulcus between front and clypeus, often a small median depression on front. Antennae extending below humeri, yellowish brown. Prothorax not quite twice as broad as long, rather flat, with rounded sides and tooth at each angle, densely and distinctly punctate, usually deep reddish brown to piceous, with paler area about edges, sometimes only sides dark or sometimes entirely pale. Scutellum deeper brown. Elytra three times as long as prothorax and wider, striate punctation fading after middle so apex is often entirely smooth, little evidence of transverse depression or basal umbones; yellowish brown usually with a reddish brown or piceous lateral darkening, sometimes only margin dark, sometimes sutural edges also dark, but rarely whole disc dark, occasionally entirely pale. Body beneath varying in color from pale yellow-brown to piceous, legs always pale. Claws with long basal tooth. Length 3.5–4.2 mm; width, 1.7–2.2 mm.

TYPE.—The whereabouts of Colaspis lurida Olivier is not known. The type of M. vicinum is in the LeConte collection, MCZ.

TYPE-LOCALITY.—“Caroline” (Colaspis lurida); South Carolina (Metachroma vicinum).

OTHER LOCALITIES.—New Jersey: Lakehurst, Da Costa, H. W. Wenzel: Virginia: Fort Monroe, Hubbard and Schwarz. North Carolina: Chadbourne, feeding on oak, E. G. Smythe; Raleigh, H. F. Howden. Georgia: Tifton, Schaeffer; 8 miles south of Waycross, E. S. Ross; Emory University Field Station, Newton. Florida: Dunedin, W. S. Blatchley; Jacksonville, Ashmead; Gainesville, S. Rogers; Tampa, Hubbard and Schwarz; Archer, four miles north of High Springs, Howden and Dozier. Louisiana: Covington, Soltau; Mandeville, Soltau; Hammond. Texas: Tyler, S. E. Bennett; Bastrop, J. O. Martin. Alabama: Oak Grove, H. Soltau. Mississippi: “Southern Mississippi,” Soltau.

Metachroma luridum, the dark-sided metachroma, is a species of leaf beetle. It is found in the eastern United States, where its range spans from Texas to Florida and New Jersey, and in Mexico. Its length is between 3.5 and 4.0 mm.