Notosacantha vogeli (Weise)

Rice, Marlin E., 2003, New Host Plant Associations And Distribution Records For Tortoise Beetles (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Cassidinae) From Southern Africa, The Coleopterists Bulletin 57 (1), pp. 79-83 : 82

Notosacantha vogeli (Weise)

New host and country records: ZIMBABWE, 40 km N Mhangura, Chipiri estate lake, 168379310S, 308069420E, 19-IX-1998, one adult. This beetle, like N. nervosa , was feeding on the newly-forming, succulent leaves of Brachystegia spiciformis Harms , Fabaceae . Borowiec (1999) recorded this species from Tanzania, Zaire, and Zambia.

The significance of these recorded plants suggests that several adult tortoise beetle species in southern Africa are sustaining themselves during the dry season (fall and winter) although leaf nutritional conditions may deteriorate during this- time. Jolivet and Hawkeswood (1995) note that some plants, such as the Fabaceae , are neutral hosts and serve a transitional role as a food source for leaf beetles during the dry season although these plants may not be true larval hosts. No tortoise beetle larvae were collected during the same time as when the adults were collected.