Chalepus walshii (Crotch)

Eiseman, Charles S., 2014, New Host Records and Other Notes on North American Leaf-Mining Chrysomelidae (Coleoptera), The Coleopterists Bulletin 68 (3), pp. 351-359 : 353

Chalepus walshii (Crotch)

Apparently, the only documented larval hosts of this species are Elymus villosus Muhl. ex Willd. and E. hystrix L. ( Poaceae ), with no notes on the larval habits (Ford and Cavey 1985). I have yet to find any leaf mines, but the conspicuous and distinctive feeding damage caused by the adults is worth mentioning. They scrape the leaf surface in regular, approximately 3-mm 2 patches, which soon turn whitish and give the leaf a checkered appearance ( Fig. 5 ). I have found the beetles feeding in this way on Elymus repens (L.) Gould and Elymus virginicus L. along the Maine coast and on Calamagrostis canadensis (Michx.) P. Beauv. (Poaceae) in both Maine and Massachusetts.

Figures

Figs. 1–6. 1) Baliosus californicus mine in Ceanothus velutinus leaf; 2) Leaf mine in black oak (Quercus velutina) with section of upper epidermis removed to reveal two Baliosus nervosus adults and larval frass pattern; 3) Detail of Baliosus nervosus mine in black birch (Betula lenta) leaf, with ragged hole at lower right; 4) Chalepus bicolor larva mining in deertongue grass (Dichanthelium clandestinum), with frass expelled along the leaf margin; 5) Feeding sign of Chalepus walshii adults; 6) Glyphuroplata pluto larva mining in Panicum leaf, with frass in long strands.