Content uploaded by Charles Eiseman
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Charles Eiseman on Oct 02, 2015
Content may be subject to copyright.
BioOne sees sustainable scholarly publishing as an inherently collaborative enterprise connecting authors, nonprofit publishers,
academic institutions, research libraries, and research funders in the common goal of maximizing access to critical research.
Notes on Leaf-Mining Chrysomelidae (Coleoptera) in New
England
Author(s): Charles S. Eiseman
Source: The Coleopterists Bulletin, 69(3):453-458.
Published By: The Coleopterists Society
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1649/0010-065X-69.3.453
URL: http://www.bioone.org/doi/full/10.1649/0010-065X-69.3.453
BioOne (www.bioone.org) is a nonprofit, online aggregation of core research in the
biological, ecological, and environmental sciences. BioOne provides a sustainable online
platform for over 170 journals and books published by nonprofit societies, associations,
museums, institutions, and presses.
Your use of this PDF, the BioOne Web site, and all posted and associated content
indicates your acceptance of BioOne’s Terms of Use, available at www.bioone.org/page/
terms_of_use.
Usage of BioOne content is strictly limited to personal, educational, and non-commercial
use. Commercial inquiries or rights and permissions requests should be directed to the
individual publisher as copyright holder.
NOTES ON LEAF-MINING CHRYSOMELIDAE (COLEOPTERA) IN NEW ENGLAND
CHARLES S. EISEMAN
Northfield, MA 01360, U.S.A.
ceiseman@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
Natural history observations are presented for eight species of leaf-mining chrysomelid beetles. Oviposition habits
are discussed for Chalepus bicolor (Olivier) and Chalepus walshii (Crotch). Leaf mines are described for C. walshii,
Microrhopala xerene (Newman), Sumitrosis inaequalis (Weber), Dibolia chelones Parry, and Phyllotreta chalybeipennis
(Crotch). Pnigalio flavipes (Ashmead) (Eulophidae) is reported as a parasitoid of D. chelones.LarvaeofMantura
chrysanthemi (Koch) and Mantura floridana C rotch are compared. New larv al host records include Calamagrostis
canadensis (Michx.) and Elymus virginicus L. (Poaceae) for C. walshii; Doellingeria umbellata (Mill.) Nees (Asteraceae)
for M. xerene;andSolidago flexicaulis L., Solidago patula Muhl. ex Willd., and Symphyotrichum puniceum (L.) Á. Löve
and D. Löve (Asteraceae) for S. inaequalis.
Key Words: Alticini, Chalepini, ecology, natural history, rearing
Previously (Eiseman 2014), I presented natural
history observations for 15 species of leaf-mining
chrysomelid beetles, including new host records,
previously unrecorded details of mine characteris-
tics, and oviposition and feeding habits of adults.
Following another season of fieldwork, I now offer
further observations for five of these species, as
well as for three additional species not discussed
in my previous paper.
MATERIAL AND METHODS
Leaf mines containing larvae were collected
opportunistically from May to September of 2014
in Massachusetts, Maine, and Vermont. Collection
and rearing methods were as described by Eiseman
(2014). All alticines were identified by S. M. Clark
and, with the exception of the specimens of Mantura
Stephens, deposited in the Monte L. Bean Life
Science Museum, Brigham Young University, Provo,
Utah. The parasitoid was identified by C. Hansson
and is deposited in the Museum of Zoology, Lund,
Sweden. All other specimens remain in my per-
sonal collection.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
My observations of eight leaf-mining chrysome-
lid species are summarized below. The first four are
hispi nes (Cassidinae: Chalepini), and the rest are
flea beetles (Galerucinae: Alticini).
Chalepus bicolor (Olivier, 1792)
My previous account of this species did not men-
tion the egg because it was absent from the mine
from which I reared an adult. This was possibly a
secondary mine, made by a larva that had wandered
from its original leaf. The two other mines I exam-
ined had an egg attached to the lower surface near
the tip of the leaf (Fig. 1). The egg is oval, about
1.3 mm by 0.9 mm, and covered with a transparent
secretion that glues it to the lower leaf surface. This
in turn is capped by a hollow, rounded structure
that is covered with minute bumps. This structure is
broken into two or more pieces once the egg is
hatched (and I have not observed unhatched eggs),
but it is a secreted covering for the egg rather than
a broken eggshell. The larva mines directly into
the leaf without damaging the exposed surface of
the egg, so it is unclear how the covering comes to
be hollow and broken.
Adults feed on the upper surf ace of leaves of
Dichanthelium clandestinum (L.) (Poaceae) in
August, producing whitish patches similar to those
made by Chalepus walshii (Crotch) on other grasses
(Eiseman 2014) but more irregular in outline.
Chalepus walshii (Crotch, 1873)
At Harriman Point in Brooklin, Maine
(44.290653° N, 68.532603° W) on 26 August, I
found adults of this species feeding on fol iage of
Calamagrostis canadensis (Michx .) an d El ymus
virginicus L. (both Poaceae) at the back margin of
a salt marsh. In the immediate vicinity, I was able
to find mine s on both h osts, all of which w ere
already abandoned except for one on C. canadensis,
from which an adult emerged by 8 September. The
following observations are based on examination of
six mines on C. canadensis and three on E. virginicus.
The eggs and their coverings resemble those of
C. bicolor but are attached to the upper leaf surface
453
The Coleopterists Bulletin, 69(3): 453–458. 2015.
Figs. 1– 8. 1) Egg of Chalepus bicolor, lateral view); 2) Egg of Chalepus walshii, dorsal view; 3) Larva and leaf
mine of Microrhopala xerene; 4) Abandoned mine of M. xerene, with pupal blister torn open; 5) Mine of Sumitrosis
inaequalis in Symphyotrichum cordifolium; 6) Mine of Dibolia chelones, showing two frass types; 7) Mature larva of
D. chelones; 8) Five young larvae of D. chelones in a single leaf.
THE COLEOPTERISTS BULLETIN 69(3), 2015454
(Fig. 2). On C. canadensis, one leaf had two eggs
and one had three, but in both cases evidently just
one la rva survived, as there was a single pupal
skin in each mine. Placement of the eggs ranged
9–70 mm from the leaf tip (average 39 mm), and
when multiple eggs were present they were sepa-
ratedby8–12 mm. On C. canadensis, the mine
occupied the full width of the leaf for 17.5–23.0 cm
from the tip, then extended another 0–1.5 cm along
one side of the midrib (total length = 18.0–24.5 cm).
The mines in E. virginicus were somewhat shorter,
occupying the full leaf width for 13.5–16.2 cm from
the tip, plus an additional 0.5–3.0 cm along one side
of the midrib (total = 16.5–17.0 cm).
The mines were full-depth and puffy, containing
little or no frass. Presumably, the frass was expelled
from the mines as I observed for C. bicolor (Eiseman
2014), but I did not see any adhering to the leaf
margins. The adult emerges through a longitudinal
split in the leaf rather than through a chewed exit
hole. Without the pupal exuviae inside or the egg
remains on the surface, the abandoned mines would
be difficult to recognize as such.
Microrhopala xerene (Newman, 1838)
On 2 September in Ashfield, Massachusetts
(42.548407° N, 72.868125° W), I collected three
leafminesonanaster(Symphyotrichum Nees,
Asteraceae), from which all thre e adults emerged
on 19 September. My observations are in general
agreement with the account given by Chittenden
(1902) for M. xerene, but one detail is worthy of
elaboration. He states that “[t]he mine, at the point
where the pupal cell is formed, puffs up to form a
hard blister, mor e or less rounded oval in shape,
usually a little over an eighth of an inch wide,
which sometimes becomes as thick through, its
dimensions being dependent upon the number of
individuals which inhabit it.” In the young mine,
the area that will become this bli ster is evident as
a dark, more or less circular spot on the upper leaf
surface, which is to some extent also visible on the
lower surface (Fig. 3). In each mine I examined,
there was a single egg attached to the lower leaf
surface at the edge of the dark spot, largely covered
by an excrement-like coa ting. My dissection of a
mature mine revealed that within the dark spot,
the ceiling and floor are thickly plastered with long
strips of frass (Fig. 4), w hich are otherwise fairly
sparsely scattered through the mine. Based on my
previous unpublished observation s, this dark spot
will distinguish M. xerene mines from those of
Microrhopala vittata (F.) on Solidago L. (Asteraceae),
the only host known to be used by both beetles
(Staines 2012).
The blister I dissected measured 9 mm by 7.5 mm,
substantially larger than suggested by Chittenden’s
description. My observations of the adult feeding
habits also differ from Chittenden’s statement that
“[t]he beetles eat out little elliptical holes in th e
leaves of their food plants”. The adults I re ared
fed in elongate channels on the upper leaf surface,
0.5–0.8 mm wide and 3–6 mm long, leaving the
lower epidermis and some mesophyll intact. In the
field, I have seen adults feeding similarly on foliage
of Symphyotrichum puniceum (L.) Á. Löve and
D. Löve.
On 6 August in Plainfield, Massachusetts
(42.540991° N, 72.914145° W), I collected a single
mine on Doellingeria umbellata (Mill.) Nees
(Asteraceae) that was identical to those from which
IrearedM. xerene. Within four days, the larva
emerged. Having no fresh D. umbellata leaves
available, I offered it leaves of Symphyotrichum
lateriflorum (L.) Á. Löve and D. Löve. It mined into
one of these for a few days, then on 16 August
entered a leaf of Symphyotrichum laeve (L.) Á. Löve
and D. Löve. Each new mine immediately developed
the same dark central patch. Unfortunately no adult
ever emerged, but I consider it highly likely that the
larva was another M. xerene. The only hispine pre-
viously recorded from D. umbellata is Microrhopala
excavata excavata (Olivier) (Staines 2012), and this
evidently is not a rearing record. It appears to
have originated with Clark (1983), who stated only
that this species “feeds on” D. umbellata.Accord-
ing to Ford and Cavey (1985), the larval host of
M. excavata excavata is unknown.
Sumitrosis inaequalis (Weber, 1801)
I noticed an interesting difference in the mines
of this species on Symphyotrichum from those on
its other asteraceous hosts. Normally, S. inaequalis
produces simple blotch mines with frass in ran-
domly dispersed strips. This was the case in mines
from which I reared this species on Ambrosia
artemisiifolia L., Eurybia divaricata (L.) G.L. Nesom,
Solidago flexicaulis L., and Solidago patula Muhl.
ex W illd. (all Asteraceae), as well as in a presumed
mine of this beetle on Ageratina altissima (L.) R.M.
King and H. Rob. (Asteraceae). However, on
Symphyotrichum cordifolium (L.) G.L. Nesom, the
larva produces a broad track with the frass deposited
along the margins (Fig. 5). I reared adults from such
mines in Vermont and Massachusetts and observed
the beginnings of a similar mine on S. puniceum in
Massachusetts. Klein (2014) photographed a mine
of this type on Symphyotrichum novae-angliae (L.)
G.L. Nesom in Wisconsin. Consistent differences in
frass deposition habits among leafminers tend to indi-
cate different species, and i t would be of interest
to compare DNA barcodes of S. in aequalis from
Symphyotrichum with those of apparently conspecific
beetles reared from other hosts.
455THE COLEOPTERISTS BULLETIN 69(3), 2015
In my experience, S. inaequalis normally pupates
in the original mi ne, but the larva I collected on
S. cordifoli um in Washington, Massachus ett s on
8 July abandoned its leaf and entered a fresh leaf
of S. laeve that I offered to it. The larva continued
to produce the same frass pattern, and the adult
emerged from this leaf by 30 July. Th e abov e-
mentioned mine on S. puniceum appeared by 8 July
in a leaf I collected in Gr anville, Mass achusetts
(42.098817° N, 72.886339° W) on 3 July to rear
another leafminer . The larva later transferred to a leaf
of S. cordifolium but did not survive.
Sumitrosis inaequalis has be en associated with
goldenrods previously, but the particular plant spe-
cies noted above are new host records. I collected
two mines from S. flexicaulis in South Burlington,
Vermont (44.489128° N, 73.162358° W) on 29 June
and one from S. patula in Sheffield, Massachusetts
(42.101552° N, 73.387531° W) on 9 July. All three
adults emerged in July, but I failed to record the
exact dates.
Dibolia chelones Parry, 1974
Previously (Eiseman 2014), I discussed abandoned
leaf mines on Chelone glabra L. (Plantaginaceae)
that I attributed to this species. On 3 July in Granville,
Massachusetts (42.098817° N, 72.886339° W), I
found a single yellow-orange larva in a similar mine.
This was apparently a secondary mine, since I was
unable to find the egg. For the first 32 mm of this
full-depth, linear mine, the frass was very fine and
squiggly as previously described, but for the remain-
der of the mine it was mos tly concentrated in a
central line which appeared frizzy under magnifica-
tion (Fig. 6). After mining a total of 150 mm in the
6-cm leaf, the larva moved to a new leaf. Here, it
mined for 12 mm, emerged at the leaf tip, and then
mined for another 35 mm at the base of the same
leaf. It finished feeding on 6 July, at which point it
was 4 mm long (Fig. 7), and burrowed down within
an hour of being placed in a jar of soil. The adult
emergedby22July.
I reared adults from leaf mines collected at
three other locations in Massachusetts in the sum-
mer of 2014. Larvae collected in Worthington
(42.379977° N, 72.929313° W) on 7 July began bur-
rowing on 9 July, and adults emerged beginning on
30 July. On 16 July, a single parasitoid, Pnigalio
flavipes (Ashmead) (Eulophidae), emerged from
one of these mines. Young larvae collected in North-
field (42.647090° N, 72.4 28234° W) on 15 July
emerged as adults during 3–6 August. Finally, I
collected nine larvae in Pittsfield (42.445844° N,
73.198090° W) on 15 August, and five of them
exited on the same day. Seven adults emerged on
2 September and the remaining two on 3 September.
Having worked throughout July–September in wet-
lands where C. glabra was present, it is my impres-
sion that D. chelones is univoltine, and the Pittsfield
larvae simply had an unusually late start.
In one leaf, I located two oval eggs embedded in
the upper leaf surface at the beginnings of mines;
one was 0.7 mm by 0.3 mm and the other 0.8 mm
by 0.4 mm. As I have observed in Dibolia borealis
Chevrolat on Plantago major L. (Plantaginaceae),
the young larvae are pale whitish (appearing green-
ish inside the leaf) rather than yellow-orange. I
found up to six D. chelones larvae mining in a sin-
gle leaf (Fig. 8). In general, it appears that younger
larvae produce squiggly frass and older larvae leave
a compact central frass line. Mines are often highly
contorted and confined by the midrib (except at the
very tip of the leaf), the leaf margin, and feeding
holes made by adults, which are irregular in shape
and typically no more than 3 mm across.
Mantura chrysanthemi (Koch, 1803) and
Mantura floridana Crotch, 1873
On 20 May in Northfield, Massachusetts
(42.646967° N, 72.424858° W), I collected larvae
of M. chrysanthemi mining leaves of Rumex
acetosella L. (Polygonaceae). They fed for at least
another four days before burrowing into soil and
emerged as adults by 6 June. Comparing the mines
with those from which I reared M. fl oridana on
Fallopia scande ns (L.) (Polygonaceae) (Eiseman
2014), I do not believe they can be distinguished.
However, a difference is apparent in my photo-
graphs of the larvae of the two species. Whereas
in M. chrysanthemi t he abdomen is covered with
dark spots that show clearly through the leaf epi-
dermis in my photographs of the mines, these spots
are minute in M. floridana and the larva appears to
be plain yellow when viewed through the leaf epi-
dermis. The larger lateral spots on M. chrysanthemi
are about equal in width to the hind femur (Fig. 9),
whereas on M. floridana they are less than one-
third the width of the hind femur (Fig. 10).
Phyllotreta chalybeipennis (Crotch, 1873)
This species has long been known to m ine
leaves of sea rocket, Cakile edentula (Bigelow)
Hook. (Brassicaceae) (Frost 1924), but it appears
that no details have been recorded. I collected
larvae mining leaves at Eel Point, N antucket,
Massachusetts (41.296422° N, 70.196893° W)
on 26 July. The larvae were slender and yellow
with dark spots, about 5.5 mm long when mature
(Fig. 11). Their whitish mines were irregular in
shape, sometimes linear (Fig. 12), but typically
more or less blotchy (Fig. 13). They were mostly
visible on just one leaf surface, usually the upper,
but I observed at least one l ower surface mine.
THE COLEOPTERISTS BULLETIN 69(3), 2015456
Occasionally, small pa tches of mines were full-
depth and transparent. As seems to be the case with
most leaf-mining chrysomelids, the larvae were able
to exit and establish new mines, and they frequently
did so. Mines of two or more larvae sometimes
merged. The dark frass was distributed randomly,
sometimes forming a lumpy mass and sometimes
in scattered discrete, tiny pellets. The linear portions
tended to have little or no frass. Of the 10 larvae
that ultimately burrowed in soil, seven emerged as
adults on 14 August, two on 19 August, and one on
21 August.
At the time that I collected the larvae, I also col-
lected two specimens of the many adult Phyllotreta
Chevrolat that were feeding on foliage of the host
plants. One of these was P. chalybeipennis, but the
other turned out to be Phyllotreta cruciferae
(Goeze), larvae of which are root feeders rather
Figs. 9–13. 9) Larva of Mantura chrysanthemi; 10) Larva of Mantura floridana; 11 ) Larva of Phyllotreta
chalybeipennis; 12) Mostly linear mine of P. chalybeipennis; 13) Blotch mine of P. chalybeipennis, with one larva inside
and one entering at right.
457
THE COLEOPTERISTS BULLETIN 69(3), 2015
than leafminers (Knodel and Olson 2012). At least
a dozen thrips (Thripidae: Thripinae) were living in
one of the aband oned P. ch alybeipen nis mines.
Two of the leaves I collected had mines of an agro-
myzid fly, likely Liriomyz a brassicae (Riley). To
the naked eye, these were difficult to distinguish
from the linear mines made by younger P. chaly-
beipennis lar vae, but when backlit and viewed
under magnification, the fly mines were identifiable
by the distinct strips of frass along alternating sides
of the channel.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I thank Shawn M. Clark, College of Life Sciences,
Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, for examin-
ing the alticines; Christer Hansson, Department of
Zoology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden, for iden-
tifying the eulophid; and the Nantucket Biodiversity
Initiative for financial and other support for my
leafminer surveys on Nantucket.
REFERENCES CITED
Chittenden, F. H. 1902. The leaf-mining locust beetle,
with notes on related species. United States
Department of Agriculture Division of Entomology
Bulletin 38: 70– 89.
Clark, S. M. 1983. A revision of the genus Microrhopala
(Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) in America north of
Mexico. Great Basin Naturalist 43(4): 597–618.
Eiseman, C. S. 2014. New host records and other notes
on North American l eaf-minin g Ch rysomelid ae
(Coleoptera). The Coleopterists Bulletin 68(3):
351–359.
Ford, E. J., and J. F. Cavey. 1985. Biology and larval
descriptions of some Maryland Hispinae (Coleoptera:
Chrysomelidae). The Coleopterists Bulletin 39(1):
36–59.
Fro st, S. W. 1924. The leaf mining habit in the Coleoptera.
Annals of the Entomological Society of America
17: 457– 468.
Klein, T. 2014. Photograph submitted to BugGuide.Net.
bugguide.net/node/view/950704 (accessed March
2015).
Knodel,J.J.,andD.L.Olson.2012.Crucifer flea beetle:
biology and integrated pest management in canola.
North Dakota State University Extension Service
E-1234: 1–8. ww w.ag.ndsu.edu/pubs /plantsci/
pests/e1234.pdf (accessed March 2015).
Staines, C. L. 2012. Catalog of the hispines of the
world. entomology.si.edu/Collections_Coleoptera-
Hispines.html (accessed March 2015).
(Received 6 March 2015; accepted 28 May 2015. Publi-
cation date 18 September 2015.)
THE COLEOPTERISTS BULLETIN 69(3), 2015458
