A new species of bromeliad-feeding Cephaloleia Chevrolat (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae, Cassidinae) from Costa Rica: evidence from DNA barcodes, larval and adult morphology and insect diets.

Carlos Garcia-Robledo,Charles L Staines,W John Kress

doi:10.3897/zookeys.477.8220

Abstract

The Neotropical genus Cephaloleia Chevrolat (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Cassidinae) includes 214 species distributed from the south of Mexico to Argentina. Cephaloleia beetles feed mostly on plants from the order Zingiberales. The interactions between Cephaloleia beetles and their Zingiberales host plants is proposed as one of the oldest and most conservative associations. Here we describe a new species of Cephaloleia (Cephaloleia kuprewiczae sp. n.) that feeds on two species of bromeliads (Pitcairnia arcuata and Pitcairnia brittoniana, Bromeliaceae: Pitcairnioideae). Cephaloleia kuprewiczae was previously described as Cephaloleia histrionica. This study includes evidence from DNA barcodes (COI), larval and adult morphology and insect diets that separates Cephaloleia kuprewiczae from Cephaloleia histrionica as a new species.

Highlights

The Neotropical genus Cephaloleia Chevrolat (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Cassidinae) includes 214 species distributed from the south of Mexico to Argentina (Staines and García-Robledo 2014)
Cephaloleia beetles are known as the “rolled-leaf beetles” because larvae and adults of the majority of Cephaloleia species feed on the scroll formed by the young leaves of their hosts
We describe Cephaloleia kuprewiczae sp. n., a new species of Cephaloleia from a tropical montane forests in Costa Rica that feeds on plants from the family Bromeliaceae

Summary

Introduction

The Neotropical genus Cephaloleia Chevrolat (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Cassidinae) includes 214 species distributed from the south of Mexico to Argentina (Staines and García-Robledo 2014). Cephaloleia beetles are known as the “rolled-leaf beetles” because larvae and adults of the majority of Cephaloleia species feed on the scroll formed by the young leaves of their hosts. Cephaloleia beetles feed mostly on plants from the order Zingiberales. The interactions between Cephaloleia beetles and their Zingiberales host plants is one of the oldest and most conservative insect-host plant associations (García-Robledo and Staines 2008). Two species of Cephaloleia are known to complete their life cycle on plants in the families Arecaceae and Orchidaceae (Urueta-Sandino 1972, Sekerka et al 2013). N., a new species of Cephaloleia from a tropical montane forests in Costa Rica that feeds on plants from the family Bromeliaceae We describe Cephaloleia kuprewiczae sp. n., a new species of Cephaloleia from a tropical montane forests in Costa Rica that feeds on plants from the family Bromeliaceae

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