Cephaloleia perplexa Baly, 1885

Naczi, R. F. C. & Staines, C. L., 2011, Noteworthy Records of Hispines from Belize (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), Insecta Mundi 2011 (190), pp. 1-6 : 3

Cephaloleia perplexa Baly [Tribe Cephaloleiini ].

Belize. Toledo District: ca. 9 mi NNE of Medina Bank, N side of Bladen Branch, 16 o 33’35”N, 88 o 43’50”W, 6 Jan 2006, R. Naczi and T. Pop; in rolled leaves of Heliconia bourgaeana (Heliconiaceae) ; (4 specimens, USNM). Same locality data except Belize Foundation for Research and Environmental Education property, 16 o 33’21”N, 88 o 42’29”W, 4 Jan 2007, Keyona Gonzalez and Patricia Jackson; in rolled leaves of Heliconia latispatha (Heliconiaceae) ; (1 specimen, USNM). New Host Records.

Cephaloleia perplexa is known from Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, and Costa Rica ( Staines 1996). Before this collection, only five specimens had been known. Five rolled, expanding leaves of Heliconia bourgaeana yielded 21 specimens of C. perplexa . These beetles were infrequent inside the leaves (usually 1–3 beetles per leaf, but sometimes as many as 5 per leaf). Individuals of C. perplexa co-occurred with the much more common C. consanguinea in the rolled leaves.

In addition, sampling of several rolled leaves of Heliconia latispatha yielded one individual of C. perplexa . Naczi had sampled the same population of H. latispatha the previous year, but without finding C. perplexa . Evidently, C. perplexa is quite rare in H. latispatha , at least at this locality. In H. latispatha , the lone C. perplexa occurred with several adults of C. consanguinea .

Because no host had been known for C. perplexa ( Staines 1996) , H. bourgaeana and H. latispatha are new host records for the beetle species. Two other species of Heliconia ( H. collinsiana and H. wagneriana ) occur in the vicinity of H. bourgaeana and H. latispatha at the collection localities, and Naczi sampled each of these others. However, C. perplexa apparently did not associate with these other Heliconia species. In contrast to C. consanguinea , C. perplexa appears to be relatively host-specific.