Pashford pot beetle

Pashford pot beetle
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Coleoptera
Family:	Chrysomelidae
Genus:	Cryptocephalus
Species:	C. exiguus
Binomial name
Cryptocephalus exiguus Schneider, 1792

The Pashford pot beetle, Cryptocephalus exiguus, is a small beetle endemic to the east of England.

The smallest Cryptocephalus species found in Britain, it is primarily black, with yellow legs and yellow bases to the antennae. The male also has a yellow head with a central black line.

During the nineteenth century, the beetle was found in the Norfolk Broads and Lincolnshire Fens, but since 1910 it has been seen only at Pashford Poors Fen in Suffolk. It was last seen in 1986 and may well now be extinct.

References

• ARKive - Pashford pot beetle
• Action Plan for Cryptocephalus exiguus