Six-spotted Pot Beetle Cryptocephalus sexpunctatus

The Six-spotted Pot Beetle, Cryptocephalus sexpunctatus, is a small and attractively marked leaf beetle belonging to the family Chrysomelidae, and one of the scarcer members of the Cryptocephalus genus found in Britain. Adults are yellowish-orange with a variable arrangement of black spots on the elytra – typically six, as the name suggests, though the pattern can be inconsistent – giving them a distinctive and appealing appearance. Like its congeners, the larvae construct and inhabit a characteristic cylindrical faecal ‘pot’, within which they develop on leaf litter and decaying plant material associated with the host tree. C. sexpunctatus is associated with mature oak woodland, particularly where there is a well-developed shrub layer and an abundance of dead wood and accumulated leaf litter. It is a scarce and declining species in Britain, regarded as an indicator of long-established, structurally diverse woodland and a significant find for entomologists surveying ancient and veteran wood-pasture sites. Image: © Richard, Flickr.

Find out more: iNaturalist, UK Beetle recording, Buglife – Pot beetles