Descriptions of immature stages of Octodonta nipae (Maulik) (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae, Cassidinae, Cryptonychini).

Ling-Fei Peng,Jin-Lei Li,You-Ming Hou,Xiang Zhang

doi:10.3897/zookeys.764.24168

Abstract

Octodonta nipae (Maulik, 1921), a hispid that damages several species of palm trees, was introduced accidently into China in 2001. The egg, larva, prepupa and pupa of O. nipae are illustrated and described in detail and compared with another invasive species, Brontispa longissima (Gestro, 1885); the scanning electron micrographs of the head capsule, antenna, maxilla, labium and lateral scoli are provided, as well as photos of body of all larval instars and pupa. It is the second description of immature stages in the genus Octodonta Chapuis.

Highlights

The genus Octodonta Chapuis, 1875 belongs to the tribe Cryptonychini (Chrysomelidae: Cassidinae), which contents eight species distributed in Southeast Asia and one species in Pupa New Guinea
As the only Octodonta species in China, the immature stage of O. nipae is still not described in detail, and we found O. nipae resembles another invasive species, Brontispa longissima (Gestro), especially in the immature stages
The mesothoracic spiracles are invisible in dorsal view in the first and second instar larvae, but the third and fourth instar larvae and prepupa have remarkably long tubular mesothoracic spiracles, which are dorsally visible

Summary

Introduction

The genus Octodonta Chapuis, 1875 belongs to the tribe Cryptonychini (Chrysomelidae: Cassidinae), which contents eight species distributed in Southeast Asia and one species in Pupa New Guinea. Octodonta nipae (Maulik, 1921) is an invasive species which was introduced accidently into Hainan, China in 2001 (Sun et al 2003), and spread to Fujian in 2007 (Hou and Weng 2010, Hou et al 2011, Tang et al 2014a, 2014b, Tang and Hou 2017). In most cases the beetle feeds on young leaves that do not open or on those that open widely (Steiner 2001, Hou et al 2014a, 2014b). This causes the young stems to shrink, curl, or die (Zhang 2003). Effective pest control is hard to achieve, because the pest lives within the leaves of the palm and is hard to reach with contact insecticides (Hou and Weng 2010, Hou et al 2011, Xu et al 2011, Xi et al 2013, Feng and Hou 2015)

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Conclusion