Meligethes viridescens (Fabricius, 1797)

Majka, Christopher, Webster, Reginald & Cline, Andrew, 2008, New records of Nitidulidae and Kateretidae (Coleoptera) from New Brunswick, Canada, ZooKeys 2 (2), pp. 337-356 : 349-350

Meligethes viridescens (Fabricius, 1797)

Charlotte Co.: near Maces Bay, 45.1245°N, 66.4735°W, 12.VIII.2007, R.P. Webster, Barrier (sea) beach, sweeping vegetation, (14, NBM, RWC).

Majka and Cline (2006) documented the introduction history of this species in North America. The species has previously been reported from Maine, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Québec ( Hoebeke and Wheeler 1996; Mason et al. 2003), and is found throughout most of Europe, western North Africa, Turkey, the northern Middle East, the Caucasus, and northern Iran east to western Kazakhstan. Larvae feed on many genera of Brassicaceae , particularly Brassica spp., Sinapis spp., Cardamine spp., Arabis spp., and Erucastrum spp. ( Kirk-Spriggs 1996, Majka and Cline 2006). In Europe, it is a widespread and common pest of oilseed rape ( Brassica napus L. and Brassica rapa L.) ( Mason et al. 2003). In Nova Scotia it has frequently been found on wild radish ( Raphanus raphanistrum L., Brassicaceae ) ( Majka and Cline 2006) and R.P. Webster swept specimens from nettles ( Urtica sp., Urticaceae ) in Maine.