''Macroplea mutica'' is a species of
leaf beetles of the subfamily
Donaciinae. It considered to be a
Palearctic
The Palearctic or Palaearctic is the largest of the eight biogeographic realms of the Earth. It stretches across all of Eurasia north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa.
The realm consists of several bioregions: the Euro-Sibe ...
species, but can be found in
Central Europe and
Turkey.
Discovery
The species were first discovered by
Johan Christian Fabricius in 1792, in
Eastern Anatolia. Throughout time, the species have been discovered in
South England and
Ireland, and also, in countries of Central Europe, such as:
North Germany, and
Hungary. The species were also found in
Scandinavia, especially in countries like
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
, and
Finland.
Description
Adult
An adult is a human or other animal that has reached full growth. In human context, the term ''adult'' has meanings associated with social and legal concepts. In contrast to a " minor", a legal adult is a person who has attained the age of major ...
s size is 4.5–6 mm, but could extend up to 7 mm.
Prothorax much narrowed to the base, mostly with two or three longitudinal black spots. The vertex angle of
elytron is extended in a triangular spine.
Distribution
The beetle lives in
Baltic
Baltic may refer to:
Peoples and languages
* Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian
*Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originati ...
,
Mediterranean, and
Caspian Seas. Some of the species were discovered on
Lake Balaton, in Hungary, which were apparently relatives of the Baltic Sea species.
Threat level
The species is on mixed level of danger. In
Poland it considered to be
critically endangered, while at the same time, in
Germany, is considered to be on an
Endangered species list
On 29 January 2010, the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species identified 5220 (2754 animals, 1 fungus, 2464 plant, 1 protist) endangered species, subspecies and varieties, stocks and sub-populations.
For IUCN lists of endangered species by kingdom, ...
. In Sweden and Finland, though, no decline have been recorded, so the species are not in any danger there at all.
Helcom
Ecology
Adult beetles are grazing on the leaves
A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...
of pondweed (''Potamogeton
''Potamogeton'' is a genus of aquatic, mostly freshwater, plants of the family Potamogetonaceae. Most are known by the common name pondweed, although many unrelated plants may be called pondweed, such as Canadian pondweed (''Elodea canadensis'' ...
'') and Ruppia
''Ruppia'', also known as the widgeonweeds, ditch grasses or widgeon grass, is the only extant genus in the family Ruppiaceae, with eight known species. These are aquatic plants widespread over much of the world. The genus name honours Heinrich ...
(''Ruppiaceae'').
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1313670
Beetles of Europe
Beetles described in 1792
Taxa named by Johan Christian Fabricius
Donaciinae