Demotispa elaeicola (Aslam)

Flowers, Wills & Chaboo, Caroline S., 2009, Novel host records of some cassidine leaf beetles from Ecuador (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Cassidinae), Insecta Mundi 2009 (95), pp. 1-8 : 6

Demotispa elaeicola (Aslam) ( Figure 14–16 )

Collecting data. Ecuador: Pichincha Province, Estación Experimental Santo Domingo, La Concordia, 20–VI–2006, R.W. Flowers, M. Martínez, M. Navarrete. The habitat comprised plantations of rubber, soybean and palms. Adults ( Fig. 14 ) feed on both fruits and the newly emerged rachis of young palms, but larvae were found exclusively on the fruits (L. Maldonado, pers. comm.) and did significant damage ( Fig. 15–16 ). The larva and pupa are free-living, slug-like in shape and light tan in color.

Host plant. Arecaceae : Elaeis guineensis Jacq. ( Aslam 1965) . This is the first record of a cassidine feeding on fruits. Oil palm has been cultivated in Ecuador since 1953, and studied by INIAP since the 1960’s (L. Maldonado, pers. comm.). Damage by D. elaeicola causes a 2% reduction in oil extracted from palm fruits, according to some palm oil extractors ( Ortega et al. 2006), and a 5-year study is planned to examine the agricultural problem posed by this cassidine species.

Seasonality. This species is present year around but is more numerous at the beginning of the rainy season (December) (A. Romero, pers. comm.).

Figures

Figure 14–16. Demotispa elaeicola and its host, Elaeis guineensis (oil palm). 14) Adult (Body length ca. 5 mm) (photo by M. Haseeb). 15) Undamaged fruit. 16) Heavily damaged fruit.