Erynephala maritima (LeConte)

Clark, Shawn M., Lillrose, Tiffany & Belo Neto, Luiz A., 2013, Leaf Beetles of the Cayman Islands (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), Insecta Mundi 2013 (279), pp. 1-41 : 16

Erynephala maritima (LeConte)

( Figures 6-7)

Galeruca maritima LeConte 1865: 218 .

Monoxia puncticollis texana Schaeffer 1932: 237 .

Diagnosis. The densely pubescent dorsal surface, in combination with the body size (7 mm long), is adequate to distinguish this species from other chrysomelids known from the Cayman Islands. In contrast, the bodies of most species are dorsally glabrous or nearly so. Only Epitrix fasciata also has pubescent elytra, but its body is tiny in comparison (1.0- 1.5 mm long).

Material examined. Cayman Islands, Grand Cayman, 0.7 mi. N Sand Bluff, 20-V-2009, R. Turnbow (1, RHTC).

Extralimital distribution. This species occurs not only in the West Indies, but also along the eastern coasts of the United States and Mexico ( Riley et al. 2003).

Plant associations. This species feeds on various species of Chenopodiaceae and Bataceae ( Clark et al. 2004) .

Comments. The prothorax of the single specimen examined from the Cayman Islands is very malformed ( Fig. 7). The pronotum is abruptly deflexed slightly right of the meson. The lateroventrally visible portion of the prothorax, from the point of deflection to the base of the leg, is sculptured like that of the pronotal dorsum, being densely and coarsely punctate. The nearly glabrous and impunctate condition, characteristic of the hypomeron of normal specimens and found on the left side of this specimen, is entirely absent from the right side. The normal specimen illustrated in Figure 6 is from Texas.