Hermaeophaga mercurialis (Fabricius, 1792)

Bukejs, Andris & Alekseev, Vitaly I., 2009, Eight new and little-known leaf-beetles species (Coleoptera: Megalopodidae & Chrysomelidae) for the Kaliningrad region, Baltic Journal of Coleopterology 9 (1), pp. 45-50 : 49

Hermaeophaga mercurialis (Fabricius, 1792)

Material: On the territory of the former East Prussia it was reported from Warnicken [Lesnoe] and Isterburg [Chernyakhovsk] ( Bercio & Folwaczny 1979). At present the species repeatedly occurs on the margins of the deciduous forest (Quercetum) in the central part of the Kaliningrad region in environs of the city Chernyakhovsk : 7 km NE of the city, 54°40´1.8´´N 21°53´17.9´´E, 01.V.1998 (2 exx, leg. V.Alekseev) and 13.V.2007 (3 exx, leg. V. Alekseev). This population is in stable state, its density compounds 3-5 imagos per 100 square metres. The population on the Sambian peninsula or in other parts of the Kaliningrad region is unknown till now, although its presence could be expected in adequate habitats .

Comment: This monophagous beetle is associated with one host plant only - Mercurialis perennis and occurs in the light deciduous parks and forests in May and early June. The species is distributed in Europe, Asia Minor and in the Caucasus. According to the catalogue of Silfverberg (2004) it is mentioned for Denmark, Estonia, Lithuania and Sweden. The species is known also from Belarus ( Lopatin, Nesterova 2005) and Latvia ( Bukejs 2008a).