Trivial name (also writer, vine leaf beetle) for the leaf beetle species Bromius obscurus. Falling leaf beetle is derived from the fact that the beetle drops off the leaf in case of danger and plays dead. And the name Schreiber is derived from the fact that the feeding spots on the leaves look like lines of text. There are at least two host-specific species, one for vines and one for willowherb. The body of the beetle, which lives on the vine and is five to six millimetres long, is black in colour, whereas the wing covers may be reddish brown. The distribution area covers almost the entire northern hemisphere.
The females lay the eggs on the underside of the leaves or in crevices of the plant, from which the larvae hatch after a few days and crawl into the ground. There, roots are eaten. They hibernate in the ground and pupate in spring. The beetles appear from May to October. In the plant tissue (stems, leaves and fruits), strip-shaped holes of about one millimetre wide and ten to fifteen millimetres long are eaten. However, the vine weevil does not cause major damage; in Austria it is considered economically insignificant and "not worth fighting". If necessary, the larvae are drowned by flooding the crops with water in spring. See a list of all pests under vine enemies.
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Thorsten Rahn
Restaurantleiter, Sommelier, Weindozent und Autor; Dresden