About Plateumaris rufa (Say, 1826)
Plateumaris rufa is a species of aquatic leaf beetle that belongs to the Chrysomelidae family. This species is distributed across eastern North America, occurring in the eastern United States and Canada, ranging from West Virginia in the south northward to Quebec. It was first formally described in 1826 by Thomas Say, from a specimen collected on the bank of the Schuylkill River in Pennsylvania. The species displays variable coloration. While most individuals have a metallic reddish copper color, some specimens appear blue or green, and purple individuals are very rare. All of this species’ appendages are rufous, meaning they are colored reddish brown.
