Microrhopala rubrolineata (Mannerheim)

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 : 354

Microrhopala rubrolineata (Mannerheim)

On 8 November 2012, in Madera Canyon, Arizona, I found a single leaf mine on Brickellia betonicifolia A. Gray (Asteraceae) . It was transparent and followed the leaf edge, with abundant frass in the form of long, narrow threads or strips ( Fig. 7 ). Since the mine had a parasitoid exit hole, I opened it and photographed the larval remains, which were definitely coleopteran. Just two hispines have been associated with Brickellia Ell. , in both cases only as adults, and both species have been found in Madera Canyon ( Staines 2012; C. L. Staines in litt.). The two remaining front legs of this larva were segmented, ruling out Octotoma marginicollis Horn. The immature stages of the other species, M. rubrolineata , are unknown, but C. L. Staines (in litt.) suggested that the larva I photographed was consistent with Microrhopala Chevrolat. If future rearing can confirm this as a larval host, it will be the first record of Microrhopala larvae feeding on a host in the tribe Eupatorieae . All known larval hosts of North American species are in Astereae and Heliantheae ( Staines 2012) .

Figures

Figs. 7–12. 7) Presumed mine of Microrhopala rubrolineata in Brickellia betonicifolia leaf; 8) Brickellia betonicifolia leaf with skeletonizing by adult Octotoma marginicollis. The mine along the leaf margin was possibly made by a larva of this species; 9) Hog-peanut (Amphicarpaea bracteata) leaf with mine of Odontota mundula overlapping mine of Leucanthiza amphicarpeaefoliella. The latter is visible as an indistinct band of frass in the lower left; 10) Mine of Odontota scapularis in groundnut leaf, with excrement-covered egg mass at right edge of photo; 11) Odontota scapularis egg mass containing pupae of parasitoid wasps; 12) Mine of Stenopodius texanus in Abutilon leaf.