[2][3] This beetle is found on willows (Salix species)[4][5][6] and the chemistry and production of its larval defensive secretions and host plant relationships have been studied extensively.

[6] This beetle is very similar in morphology and behavior to the Nordic species Phratora polaris, as noted by Palmen,[10] Steinhausen,[11] Sundholm,[12] and Köpf et al.

[9] For example, the female genitalia of P. tibialis, (which can be examined with live beetles when moderate pressure is applied to the abdomen under the dissecting scope), closely resemble those of P.

[6] Phratora tibialis is found on the high salicylate willow species Salix purpurea[4][5] throughout most of their range.

In the 1990s, a population of P. tibialis was found feeding on Salix daphnoides plants along a stream in a rural area near Alpthal, Switzerland.

[5] In the laboratory, P. tibialis appears to be able to feed on other willows that possess very different leaf chemistries, including Salix euxina[6] (syn.

[32][7][33] Using host plant compounds to make the larval defensive secretions appears to be the evolutionarily advanced or derived state of this trait,[5] but P. tibialis appears to be pre-adapted to evolve the use of host plant salicylates to produce its defensive secretion.