Dibolia melampyri Parry

Eiseman, Charles S., Feldman, Tracy S. & Palmer, Michael W., 2024, New larval host records, parasitoid records, and DNA barcoding data for North American leaf-mining leaf beetles (Coleoptera: Chrysomeloidea), Zootaxa 5549 (1), pp. 1-60 : 41

Dibolia melampyri Parry

( Figs. 93–94 , 161 )

Reared specimens. MASSACHUSETTS: Franklin Co., Northfield, Crag Mountain , 15.vii.2017, em. 3–5.viii.2017, C.S. Eiseman, ex Melampyrum lineare , # CSE4061 (2 adults, MLBM) .

Collected specimens. MASSACHUSETTS: Franklin Co., Montague, Montague Plains Wildlife Management Area , 8.vi.2017, C.S. Eiseman, on Melampyrum lineare , # CSE3804 (2 adults, MLBM) .

Other collected mines. MASSACHUSETTS: Franklin Co., Montague, Montague Plains Wildlife Management Area, 25.vi.2016, C.S. Eiseman, Melampyrum lineare .

Photographed mines. CONNECTICUT: Litchfield Co ., Norfolk, Aton Forest , 26.vii.2022, C.S. Eiseman, Melampyrum lineare [vacated] (iNat 144192224, 144192399) ; MICHIGAN: Mason Co., Nordhouse Dunes , 29.vi.2018, C.S. Eiseman, Melampyrum lineare [larvae] (iNat 203354762) ; PENNSYLVANIA: Centre Co., 40.916431, -78.061678, 5.vii.2021, jmole, Melampyrum lineare [larvae] (iNat 85865969) ; RHODE ISLAND: Washington Co., Charlestown, Francis C. Carter Memorial Preserve , 2.vii.2020, C.S. Eiseman, Melampyrum lineare [vacated] (iNat 51868348) .

Host. Orobanchaceae : Melampyrum lineare Lam.

Biology. Larvae mine leaves of Melampyrum lineare , but no further details have been recorded previously ( Parry 1974). The yellowish egg is embedded in the upper leaf surface at the apex of the leaf, and the larva begins mining from this point, forming a narrow, contorted channel that undulates between the two leaf margins ( Figs. 93–94 ). Frass is deposited in a trail of irregular particles that meanders from one side of the mine to the other. When a larva moves to a new leaf, it chews a slit in the upper epidermis near the apex, then forms a full-depth, blotchier mine with sparsely scattered frass particles. The larva is yellow with a dark head and prothoracic plate; the latter has a narrow, yellow mid-dorsal line.

Parasitoid. An adult Pnigalio Schrank ( Eulophidae ) emerged on 9 July from the 2016 collection (CSE2726, BMNH).

Notes. Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Pennsylvania are new state records for Dibolia melampyri , the only previous US records being Michigan and New York ( Riley et al. 2003).

Figures

FIGURES 89–98. Leaf mines of Alticini spp.; 89: Altica cf. lazulina on Camissoniopsis cheiranthifolia; 90: Dibolia borealis on Plantago major; 91: D. chelones on Chelone glabra (larva producing squiggly frass); 92: same (two larvae producing central frass lines); 93: D. melampyri on Melampyrum lineare; 94: same; 95: D. cf. obscura on Penstemon griffinii; 96: same; 97: Mantura floridana on Persicaria virginiana; 98: M. floridana on Oxalis stricta.

FIGURES 142–161. Chrysomelidae adults; 142: Octotoma marginicollis; 143: O. plicatula; 144: Odontota dorsalis; 145: O. floridana; 146: O. horni; 147: O. scapularis; 148: Stenopodius cf. lateralis; 149: Sumitrosis ancoroides (reared from Stylosanthes biflora); 150: S. ancoroides (reared from Strophostyles helvola); 151: S. inaequalis; 152: S. pallescens; 153: S. rosea (reared from Hylodesmum glutinosum); 154: S. rosea (reared from Laportea canadensis); 155: S. rosea (another individual reared from same collection of L. canadensis leaves); 156: S. rosea (reared from Celastrus orbiculatus); 157: Oulema palustris; 158: Altica cf. lazulina; 159: Dibolia borealis; 160: D. chelones; 161: D. melampyri.