Bug FAQBlack-headed Systena
Systena hudsonias · Order: Coleoptera · Family: Chrysomelidae
The black-headed flea beetle is called Systena hudsonias. It lives across North America and feeds on plants from many different families.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Systena hudsonias is known as the black-headed flea beetle.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
It is found in North America.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
It feeds on plants belonging to seventeen different plant families.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
Its native range is North America.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 22 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Pennsylvania, Texas, Kansas, New York, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Illinois.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: native in North America; native in Canada. Source: iNaturalist
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Questions people ask
What does the black-headed flea beetle eat?
It eats plants from seventeen different families.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Chrysomelidae)
Spotted Cucumber BeetleDiabrotica undecimpunctataDamages trees, gardens or crops
Bean WeevilAcanthoscelides obtectusDamages trees, gardens or crops
Cowpea WeevilCallosobruchus maculatusDamages trees, gardens or crops
Swamp Milkweed Leaf BeetleLabidomera clivicollisDamages trees, gardens or crops
Alder Leaf BeetleAgelastica alniDamages trees, gardens or crops
Dogbane Leaf BeetleChrysochus auratusSources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systena_hudsonias
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-26 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-26.