About Coraebus rubi (Linnaeus, 1767)
Coraebus rubi is 7.5 to 11 millimeters long. It has blueish elytra marked with five jagged transverse bands of white hair; the front two of these bands are variably merged. Its head and pronotum have a bronze tinge, while its scutellum is black and rugose. This beetle occurs across all central and southern European countries, but is absent from north-western France, the Netherlands, and the Scandinavian countries. The first confirmed sighting of this species in the United Kingdom was recorded in North Lincolnshire in 2018; this individual was most likely imported alongside raspberry plant stock. C. rubi is also found in India, and may be present in North Africa. It was previously trialled as a biological control agent for the Rubus fruticosus aggregate in New Zealand, but the trial was abandoned because the species lacked sufficient host specificity.
