Flea Beetle and Recipe for Farfalla con Funghi Porcini

bugman

December 22nd, 2010 at 4:23 pm

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Jumping Beetle
Location: Hurricane, Utah
December 22, 2010 12:01 pm
I noticed this beetle on my kitchen table, and leaned closer to get a better look. It surprised me by hopping away, just like a flea-so I hunted it down hoping that wasn’t what it was. I found it, and it was not a flea, but a pretty coppery pink beetle. It is 2 mm long. I suspect it was brought in from the river near my house in Southern Utah. (I put it in a jar to get better looks in daylight but by morning it had died.)
Signature: Pam

Flea Beetle

Hi Pam,
This is a Flea Beetle, a member of a subfamily of Leaf Beetles, Chrysomelidae. The fact that you have both a dorsal and quasilateral view aids in that identification because of the enlarged rear femurs are plainly evident. We are currently in the kitchen trying to perfect a recipe for Farfala con Fungi Porcini after consulting with renowned chef and photographer Luca Loffredo, otherwise we would take the time to try to identify your Flea Beetle to the species level based on its physical appearance and range information available online on BugGuide. We did take the time to create a Flea Beetles subsubcategory because of your query.
P.S. We will post the recipe for Farfala con Fungi Porcini if it turns out well.

Flea Beetle

Update: We wonder if perhaps it might be a member of the genus Chaetocnema, based on images posted to BugGuide.

Recipe: Farfalla con Funghi Porcini

Update: Promised recipe for Farfalla con Funghi Porcini.

Thank you for your quick reply, I’d never heard of flea beetles and had fun looking through the other posts. I am experimenting with fudge recipes myself, the Farfala looks tasty, we might give it a try!
Thanks again, and have a good holiday!
Pam