Location: Systematic Entomology Laboratory
Title: Possible living flea beetle fossil in Bolivia: A new genus of flea beetles with modified hind legs (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Galerucinae: Alticini)Author
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Submitted to: Zootaxa
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Publication Acceptance Date: 4/12/2016 Publication Date: 5/25/2016 Citation: Konstantinov, A.S. 2016. Possible living flea beetle fossil in Bolivia: A new genus of flea beetles with modified hind legs (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Galerucinae: Alticini). Zootaxa. 592:103-120 doi:10.3897/zookeys.592.8180. Interpretive Summary: Leaf beetles, especially flea beetles, are among the most important insects for U.S. agriculture. Many are serious pests and feed on crops destroying valuable plants costing millions of dollars annually. Others are important biological control agents that can be used to control unwanted and invasive weeds. This work describes new genus and three new species from Bolivia, providing key characters, description, and illustrations. This study will be useful to biological control workers, taxonomists, ecologists, and anyone interested in plant feeding beetles. Technical Abstract: A new genus (Chanealtica) with three new species (C. cuevas, C. ellimon, and C. maxi) from Bolivia is described and illustrated. It is compared with Aphthonoides Jacoby 1885, Argopistes Motschulsky 1860, Metroserrapha Bechyne 1958, Psylliodes Berthold 1827 and Psyllototus Nadein 2010. Remarkably, based on the available characters, among all the flea beetles, Chanealtica is mostly similar to an extinct genus Psyllototus. A discussion of diversity and function of the hind leg in flea beetles is provided. |
