Striped Turnip Flea Beetle vs Four-Spotted Carrion Beetle

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Striped Turnip Flea Beetle Four-Spotted Carrion Beetle
Scientific Name Phyllotreta undulata Dendroxena quadrimaculata
Order Coleoptera Coleoptera
Family Chrysomelidae Silphidae
Size 1.5-2.5 mm 12-16 mm
Habitat Farmland Grasslands
Diet Herbivores Predators
Regions Europe Europe, Western Asia
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

Striped Turnip Flea Beetle

A tiny flea beetle with sinuous yellow stripes that is a significant pest of brassica seedlings. Shothole damage to leaves is characteristic. One of several damaging Phyllotreta species.

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Did You Know?

Emerging seedlings can be destroyed overnight by large numbers of these tiny beetles creating characteristic shot-holes.

Four-Spotted Carrion Beetle

A yellowish-brown beetle with four dark spots on its elytra, unusual for a silphid because it hunts in trees rather than on the ground. It climbs trunks searching for caterpillars.

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Did You Know?

It is one of the only carrion beetles that has abandoned carrion feeding entirely, becoming an arboreal caterpillar predator.