{{short description|Species of beetle}} {{Speciesbox | image = Chrysomelidae - Clytra laeviuscula-1.JPG | image_caption = ''Clytra laeviuscula'' | genus = Clytra | species = laeviuscula | authority = Ratzeburg, 1837 | display_parents = 3 | synonyms = *''Clythra fasciata'' <small>(Fabricius 1837)</small> *''Clythra laeviuscula'' <small>(Ratzeburg, 1837)</small> }}
'''''Clytra laeviuscula''''', the '''ant bag beetle''',{{dubious|reason=Common name appears to be fake|date=January 2022}} is a species of short-horned leaf beetles belonging to the family Chrysomelidae, subfamily Cryptocephalinae.<ref>[https://www.biolib.cz/en/taxon/id11527/ Biolib]</ref>
==Distribution== They are found in most of Europe, in the eastern part of the Palearctic realm, and in the Near East.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070930215308/http://www.faunaeur.org/full_results.php?id=241062 Fauna europaea]</ref>
==Habitat== These beetles inhabit wet forests, sunny forest edges, dry slopes and dry grasslands, but also floodplains and parks.<ref name=Comm/>
==Description== ''Clytra laeviuscula'' can reach a length of {{convert|7.5|-|11.5|mm}} and a width of about {{convert|4|mm}}.<ref name=Comm>[http://www.commanster.eu/commanster/Insects/Beetles/SpBeetles/Clytra.laeviuscula.html Commanster]</ref> These beetles have elongated bodies and shiny red-orange elytra with four black spots, two larger around the center of the elytra and two smaller on the shoulders. The prothorax is black and shiny. The head and legs are black, as well as the antennae that are quite short.
''Clytra laeviuscula'' can be distinguished from ladybirds (family Coccinellidae) by its more elongated form and by its tarsi (ends of the legs) formed of five parts (three for ladybugs).
This species is rather similar to ''Clytra quadripunctata''.
==Biology== Adults occurs frequently from May to August.<ref name=Comm/> They are phytophagous. They feed on leaves, flowers and pollen of deciduous trees, mainly of ''Quercus robur'', ''Salix'', ''Populus'', ''Betula'', ''Fraxinus excelsior'', ''Fagus sylvatica'', ''Dorycnium'', ''Prunus'', ''Ulmus'' and ''Corylus avellana''.<ref>[http://www.brc.ac.uk/dbif/invertebratesresults.aspx?insectid=2161 BRC - Database of Insects and their Food Plants]</ref> They feed also on pollen of ''Rosa canina'', ''Polygonum bistorta'' and ''Leucanthemum vulgare''.<ref name=Comm/>
''Clytra laeviuscula'' has a special relationship with ants. The females wrap each egg with their hind legs in a ball of about 2 mm of excrements/feces and leaves it in the vicinity of an anthill. The eggs are taken to the nest by ants, where the larvae made a kind of tube that serves to protect them from ants. They feed on the waste and other detritus left by the ants, on their eggs and on their larvae. The adults usually emerge after about two weeks.<ref>Tatyana Robertivna Stefanovska, Edwin E Lewis [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/287147563_First_Record_Of_Clytra_Laeviuscula_Ratzeburg_As_Potential_Insect_Pest_Of_Energy_Willow_Salix_Viminalis_L_In_Ukraine First Record Of Clytra Laeviuscula Ratzeburg As Potential Insect Pest Of Energy Willow (Salix Viminalis L.) In Ukraine]</ref> The larval cycle lasts about two years.<ref>Mohr, K.H., in eds. Freude, H., Harde, K.W. & Lohse, G.A. (1966) Die kafer Mitteleuropas. 88. Familie: Chrysomelidae 9 95-299:119</ref>
==Gallery== <gallery widths="240" heights="180"> File: Chrysomelidae - Clytra laeviuscula.JPG|Mating pair File:Clytra laeviuscula, oviposition.jpg|Oviposition File:Clytra laeviuscula (Ratzeburg, 1837).jpg|Mounted specimen </gallery>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20060508041819/http://culex.biol.uni.wroc.pl/cassidae/European%20Chrysomelidae/clytra%20laeviuscula.htm WYDZIAŁ NAUK BIOLOGICZNYCH] * [http://www.insektenbox.de/kaefer/ameisa.htm Insektenbox {{in lang|de}}]
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Category:Clytrini Category:Beetles of Europe Category:Taxa named by Julius Theodor Christian Ratzeburg Category:Beetles described in 1837