Chrysomelidae, Latreille, 1802

Albertoni, Fabiano F., 2017, Morphology and natural history of two species of bromeliad leaf beetles in the genus Calliaspis Dejean, 1836 from Southern Brazil, with a summary of the current knowledge of Imatidiini immatures (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Cassidinae), Zootaxa 4312 (1), pp. 113-142 : 114

Chrysomelidae associated with bromeliads

Species of Acentroptera reported in association with bromeliads include the following taxa: Acentroptera basilica Thomson, 1856 ; A. lineata Staines, 2014 ; A. nevermanni Uhmann, 1930 ; A. ohausi Weise, 1910 ; A. pulchella Guérin-Méneville, 1830 , and A. tessellata Baly, 1958 ( Albertoni & Casari 2017; Mantovani et al. 2005; Monrós & Viana 1947; Sekerka 2014; Staines 2014). Adults and larvae of Spaethiella intricata (Boheman, 1850) (Hemisphaerotini) and adults of Cephaloleia sp. ( Imatidiini ) are leaf scrapers of bromeliads in Southern Brazil ( Albertoni et al. 2016). Cephaloleia maxima Uhmann, 1942 was collected on “ Ananas macrodens ” in Argentina (in quotations because the host species name was apparently misspelled by the collector - Denier - who probably intended Ananas macrodontes É. Morren ( Monrós & Viana 1947) .

Cephaloleia kuprewiczae García-Robledo & Staines, 2015 in García-Robledo et al. (2015) was recently described along with its life cycle and immature stages in association with the bromeliads Pitcairnia arcuata (André) André and Pitcairnia brittoniana (Mez) Mez (García-Robledo et al. 2015) . Cephaloleia kuprewiczae was described from specimens previously identified as Cephaloleia histrionica (García-Robledo et al. 2015) , which were collected in bromeliads. Given that the specimens collected from bromeliads were subsequently described as Ce. kuprewcizae, the association of Ce. histrionica with these hosts remains to be confirmed in future natural history assessments.

A case involving a more intricate misunderstanding is that of Burgess et al. (2003), who reported Calliaspis rubra (Oliver, 1808) as a bromeliad feeder on Aechmea nallyi L.B. Sm. in Peru. The information was based on two beetle specimens associated with this bromeliad, which were sent to C.L. Staines (USNM) for identification. Staines determined one of the specimens as C. rubra , and Burgess et al. (2003) considered both to be conspecific. A subsequent revision of the tribe Imatidiini ( Chrysomelidae : Cassidinae) ( Sekerka 2014) listed a specimen at the USNM collection with the following locality data: “Peru: Amazon Center for Education & Environmental Research, 28.iii.1999, M. Lowman & D. Krabill lgt.” The identification label on this exemplar confirmed that it had been determined by Staines as S. erhardti in 2000. Sekerka (2014) then suggested that S. erhardti was associated with A. nallyi instead of C. rubra as Burgess et al. (2003) had reported. This is substantiated by the fact that the illustrations of the adults presented by Burgess et al. (2003) correspond to S. erhardti . Based on a personal correspondence with M. Lowman, it seems clear that Burgess et al. (2003) dealt with two species both of which were correctly identified by the same specialist. For this reason, C. rubra and S. erhardti , are here treated as leaf scrapers of bromeliads in Peru. These species are not known to be leaf miners as immatures or adults. Alternatively, Sekerka (2014) suggested that the largest injuries shown in Figure 16 (p. 222) of Burgess et al. (2003) could have been caused by an Acentroptera species, instead of adults of Calliaspis or Spaethiella Barber et Bridwell, 1940 .

Figures

FIGURES 16 – 25. Calliaspis umbonata Hincks, 1956 mature larva. (16) Clypeus and labrum; (17) epipharynx; (18, 19) lateral outlines of labrum and epipharynx in frontal view; (20) scale-like projections of epipharynx; (21) maxilla and labium, ventral view; (22) maxilla and hypopharynx, dorsal view; (23, 24, 25) mandible: (23) dorso-external view; (24) ventro-internal view; (25) external view.