Key to the Alabama Species of Altica
Altica chalybea Illiger
Altica woodsi Isely*
Altica heucherae Fall*
Altica ignita Illiger
Altica viridana Schaeffer
Altica litigata Fall
Altica vaccinia Blatchley
Altica foliaceae LeConte
Altica knabi Blatchley
Altica polita Olivier
Altica ludoviciana Fall

1. Elytra not plicate….. 2
    Elytra with submarginal longitudinal plicae, host Prunus sp.….. A. ignita
2. Legs yellow or red-brown….. 3
    Legs dark….. 5
3. Elytra bronze, prothorax nearly as wide as elytra at base….. 4
    Elytra metallic or brown-blue, much wider than prothorax at base….. A. ludoviciana
4. Small (2.5-3.5 mm.), elongate oval; pronotal groove usually distinct….. A. knabi
    Larger (3.9-4.7) mm.), elongate subparallel; pronotal groove obsolete….. A. polita
5. Prebasal pronotal impression obsolescent or obsolete….. 6
    Prebasal pronotal impression distinct to lateral margins….. 7
6. Elongate, color green-blue; hosts Oenothera sp., Cakile edentula….. A. foliaceae
    Elongate oval; color of elytra purple, head and thorax bronze; host Huechera americana…..      A. heucherae
7. Color and shape not as in chalybea; smaller than 4.5 mm.….. 8
    Broadly oval, shining deep blue; over 4.5 mm. long; host Vitis spp.….. A. chalybea
8. Base of pronotum evenly arcuate or but feebly sinuate; color and shape not as below….. 9
    Base of pronotum strongly sinuate; green, oval, convex….. A. viridana
9. Elongate or elongate oval, blue or green, hosts other than Parthenocissus sp.….. 10
    Rather broadly oval, blue or purplish blue with a hint of green, host Parthenocissus sp.….. A.      woodsi
10. Elongate, metallic green or green-black, hosts Chrysobalanus oblongifolius, Polygonum        glacum..... A. vaccinia
       Elongate oval, green-blue or black-blue, host Ludwigia palustris..... A. litigata

Altica chalybea Illiger

Haltica chalybea Illiger, 1807, Mag. Insektenk. 6: 115.
Haltica vitivora Thomas, 1834, in Sillim. Amer. Jour. 26: 113.
     Broadly oval, convex. Shining deep blue, finely punctate. Venter more black. Antennae piceous, 1/2 body length. Thorax slightly narrower than elytra; prebasal marginal line distinct and entire across pronotum. Length 4.7-5.6 mm. Width 2.5-3.5 mm.
     Alabama records: 62 specimens from Baldwin^1,2, Clarke², Lee¹, Macon¹, and Mobile² counties.
     Seasonal distribution: March 20-June 5.
     Remarks: This species, commonly known as the grape flea beetle, is often a pest on that plant. Some of the Alabama specimens were collected from muscadine, Vitis rotundifolia, and are somewhat larger than northern examples. These may eventually prove to be specifically distinct from the northern, more "typical" form.

Altica woodsi Isely*

Haltica woodsi Isely, 1920, USDA, Washington, Bull. 901, p. 11.
     Oval, convex. Deep purple with indications of blue or green lustre. Venter with less metallic lustre. Antennae 1/2 the body length. Prebasal pronotal impression slightly sinuate laterad. Elytral punctation slightly coarser than that of A. chalybea. Length 3.5-4.2 mm. Width 1.9-2.1 mm.
     Alabama records: 2 specimens from Lee¹ County.
     Remarks: This species is smaller than A. chalybea and more coarsely punctate. The Alabama material was compared with determined specimens from Pennsylvania and Ottawa, Ontario, the latter a gift of W. J. Brown, who collected them on Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus sp.).

Altica heucherae Fall*

Haltica heucherae Fall, 1920, Psyche 27: 109.
     Elongate oval. Head and thorax metallic bronze, alutaceous. Elytra purple-violaceous, alutaceous, sparsely, moderately coarsely punctate. Prebasal pronotal impression feeble, not strongly impressed. Length 3.2 mm. Width 1.8 mm.
     Alabama records: 1 specimen from Marion¹ County.
     Seasonal distribution: June 2.
     Remarks: We collected this single specimen on Heuchera americana whose leaves were well chewed by insects. W. J. Brown, who also had examined this beetle, informed the authors (personal communication) that it was not a specimen of A. viatica Blatchley, the type of which Brown had seen. Altica viatica has a deeper pronotal groove. It is through its more shallow pronotal sulcus that our specimen also differs slightly from Fall's description of A. heucherae. However, the other features and evidence of host plants rather forcefully refer it to the species A. heucherae. Fall (52) recorded Heucherae hspida as a host. This then constitutes a considerable extension of the species' range (from Manitoba, Canada).

Altica ignita Illiger

Haltica ignita Illiger, 1807, Mag. Insektenk. 6: 117.
     Oval, convex. Shining metallic blue with purple reflections or more nearly completely metallic purple. Prebasal pronotal impression deep, entire across the pronotum. Elytra moderately coarsely punctate, sides usually with faint submarginal plica. Length 3.2-3.7 mm. Width 1.8-1.9 mm.
     Alabama records: 21 specimens from Cleburne¹, Lee¹, Lowndes¹, Macon¹, and Mobile^2,3 counties.
     Seasonal distribution: March 31-July.
     Remarks: This species is readily collected by beating the branches of the wild plum, Prunus americana, in spring and early summer.

Altica viridana Schaeffer

Haltica kalmiae viridana Schaeffer, 1932, Bull. Brooklyn Entomol. Soc. 27: 240.
     Oval, convex. Shining metallic green. Pronotum finely punctate. Prebasal marginal line deeply impressed, sinuate. Basal margine of pronotum sinuate. Elytra moderately punctate, punctures tending somewhat to be in rows. Prosternum, elytral epipleura, antennae, and tibiae ventrally dark brown. Length 3.3 mm. Width 1.9 mm.
     Alabama records: 1 specimen from Mobile² County.
     Remarks: This single specimen was collected by Loding at Magazine Point, Mobile County. No date of collection was given. In Pennsylvania, the senior author has collected this species by beating Kalmia sp.

Altica litigata Fall

Haltica litigata Fall, 1910, Trans. Amer. Entomol. Soc. 36: 154.
     Elongate oval. Dark metallic green-blue. Pronotum impunctate, strongly alutaceous; prebasal transverse line distinct but not deeply impressed. Elytra rather coarsely punctate, punctures somewhat in double rows separated by very slight dull costae or ridges. Tarsi, tibiae, and antennae dark brown. Length 3.2-4.4 mm. Width 1.6-2.1 mm.
     Alabama records: 144 specimens from Baldwin^1,2, Chilton¹, Choctaw¹, Jackson², Lee¹, Madison¹, Montgomery¹, and Mobile^1,2,3 counties.
     Seasonal distribution: March 10-December.
     Remarks: This species is often attracted to light. Adults have been taken from the host plant, Ludwigia palustris var. americana.

Altica vaccinia Blatchley

Haltica vaccinia Blatchley, 1921, Jour. N. Y. Entomol. Soc. 48: 95.
     Elongate, convex. Head and thorax shining metallic green; elytra shining metallic green, brassy green, or green- or purple-black. Pronotum with prebasal transverse impression entire but not especially deep; surface punctulate, shining or alutaceous. Elytra alutaceous, rather coarsely, irregularly punctate. Tarsi and apexes of posterior tibiae brown. Length 3.2-3.9 mm. Width 1.6-1.9 mm.
     Alabama records: 51 specimens from Baldwin^1,2,3 and Mobile² counties.
     Seasonal distribution: April 4-October 5.
     Remarks: Identification of this species was verified by comparison with a Blatchley "cotype" in the USNM. Although the specfic name indicated an association with the plant Vaccinium, Alabama specimens have been collected by the senior author on Chrysobalanus oblongifolius and by Loding on Polygonum glaucum.

Altica foliaceae LeConte

Haltica foliaceae LeConte, 1858, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 9: 86.
Haltica punctipennis LeConte, 1859, Col. of Kans., p. 25.
     Elongate. Metallic green-blue or green with hint of blue. Head, pronotum, and elytra alutaceous. Elytra very finely punctulate. Pronotal prebasal transverse impression feeble or obsolete. Length 4.0-5.3 mm. Width 1.9-2.5 mm.
     Alabama records: 205 specimens from Autauga¹, Baldwin^1,2, Barbour¹, Clarke¹, Cleburne¹, Coffee¹, Dallas¹, Escambia¹, Henry¹, Houston¹, Lee¹, Macon¹, Marshall¹, Mobile^2,3, Montgomery¹, Pike¹, Tallapoosa¹, and Wilcox¹ counties.
     Seasonal distribution: April 17-October 4.
     Remarks: These beetles can most easily be collected by sweeping the evening primrose, Oenothera sp. However, a lrage series was collected from Cakile edentula.
     The "3" records from Mobile County are from the USNM.

Altica knabi Blatchley

Haltica knabi Blatchley, 1910, Col. of Ind., p. 1200.
     Elongate oval. Dark bronze, antennae and legs red-brown. Head, pronotum, and elytra alutaceous, the latter punctate. Pronotal prebasal transverse impression shallow. Length 2.5-3.5 mm. Width 1.2-1.8 mm.
     Alabama records: 9 specimens from Baldwin², Barbour¹, Etowah², Franklin¹, Lee¹, Mobile^2,3, and Winston¹ counties.
     Seasonal distribution: May 11-September 17.
     Remarks: For identification of this species we are indebted to W. J. Brown. Until we sent him material of this species we had been calling these specimens A. fuscoaenea Melsheimer. Although most collections commonly refer to these as A. fuscoaenea, the true A. fuscoeanea, according to Mr. Brown who has examined Melsheimer's type, is more oval and very rare. Mr. Brown (personal communication) also stated that Oenothera biennis is the host plant for knabi.
     The "3" record for Mobile County refers to a single specimen seen in the USNM.

Altica polita Olivier

Haltica polita Olivier, 1808, Entomol., p. 706.
     Elongate, subparallel. Dark brown with slight green hue. Antennae, legs, and venter red-brown. Prothorax as wide as elytra, lateral body outline nearly straight with only slight emargination at base of prothorax. Head more shining, prothorax and elytra alutaceous, impunctate or sparsely, very finely punctate. Pronotum nearly evenly convex, pronotal prebasal transverse impression nearly obsolete. Length 3.9-4.7 mm. Width 1.8-2.1 mm.
     Alabama records: 17 specimens from Baldwin^2,3, Cherokee¹, Cleburne¹, Lee¹, Macon¹, and Mobile² counties.
     Seasonal distribution: April 30-September 13.

Altica ludoviciana Fall

Haltica ludoviciana Fall, 1910, Trans. Amer. Entomol. Soc. 36: 157.
     Elongate. Dark brown with indication of blue; legs and antennae red-brown. Pronotum shining, finely punctate; prebasal transverse impression obsolete; base of pronotum considerably narrower than base of elytra but slightly wider than apex of pronotum. Elytra subparallel, shining, punctate, punctures tending to be in paired rows; humeral umbones prominent. Legs yellow-brown. Length 4.6 mm. Width 2.1 mm.
     Alabama records: 1 specimens from Mobile^2,3 County.
     Seasonal distribution: August 12.
     Remarks: The only Alabama specimen of this species is in Loding's collection, having been collected by him and identified by Schaeffer.