Cephaloleia simplex Staines, 2008

Staines, C. L., 2008, A new species of Cephaloleia Chevrolat, 1837 (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Cassidinae) from Dominica, Insecta Mundi 2008 (30), pp. 1-4 : 2-4

Cephaloleia simplex Staines , new species

( Figure 5 )

Cephaloleia sp. Peck 2006: 195 (faunal list).

Holotype: female, Dominica, St. Paul Parish , Mornes Trois Piton Nat’l. Pk., trail to Middleham Falls, 15 o 21’06” N, 61 o 20’06” W, el. 2200 ft., V-20-VI-2-2000 // L. Benavides, E. Chavez, J. Dye & E. Kretsch, Malaise trap, 2000/10// Holotype Cephaloleia simplex Staines 2007 [red label] (TAMU).

Description. Yellowish-brown; eyes and antennae (except basal antennomere) nearly black, venter brownish except pro- and mesosterna blackish; base of pronotum much narrower than base of elytra. Head: vertex punctate, alutaceous between punctures; medial sulcus present; front nearly vertical; interantennal carina absent; clypeus small, punctate; maxillary and labial palps yellowish. Antenna: extends beyond humerus; antennomeres cylindrical; I short; II two times length of I; III longer than I and II combined; IV-VI subequal in length; VII-X subequal in length, shorter than preceding; XI two times length of X, bluntly pointed at apex. Pronotum: wider than long; lateral margin straight and slightly divergent for basal 7/8, then rounded and convergent; anterior angle with small tooth; posterior angle acute; convex; central 1/3 sparsely punctate; moderately coarsely punctate at sides; pronotal length 0.9 mm (n=1); pronotal width 1.1 mm. Scutellum: large; pentagonal; alutaceous; acutely pointed at apex. Elytron: lateral and apical margins smooth; exterior apical angle rounded; humerus rounded, impunctate; puncture rows with few punctures; scutellar row reaching basal 1/3; elytral length 2.9 mm; elytral width 1.6 mm. Venter: pro-, meso-, and metasterna smooth medially, punctate laterally; abdominal sternite 1 punctate; sterna 2-5 with white setae. Leg: short, robust; coxa and femur punctate. Total length: 3.0 mm.

Etymology. From simplex (Latin= simple) for the unadorned appearance of this species.

Comparative notes. Cephaloleia simplex keys to couplet 83 in Staines (1996). It differs from C. distincta Baly by the following combination of characters: antennomere I not compressed at base, elytra not strongly punctate-striate, prosternum punctate at sides, size small (3.0 mm); C. distincta is known from Costa Rica and Panama.

Larval host plants. Unknown. The probable host plant of this species is one of the Zingiberales native to Dominica. Hodge (1954) records Heliconia caribaea Lam. , H. bihai L. ( Heliconiaceae ); Canna lambertii Lindl. (Cannaceae) ; Renealmia racemosa (L.) A. Rich. ( Zingiberaceae ); Costus cylindricus Jacq. (Costaceae) ; Calathea lutea (Aubl.) G. F. W. Meyer , C. allouia (Aubl.) Lindl. , and Ischnosiphon ariuma (Aubl.) Koern. (Marantaceae) as native to the island. Additionally, Alpinia speciosa (Wendl.) K. Schum. , Hedychium

coronarium Koenig, Curcuma longa L. ( Zingiberaceae ), and Maranta arundinacea L. ( Marantaceae )

have been introduced to Dominica.

Immatures. Unknown.

Biology. Unknown.

Distribution. Dominica.

Figures

Figure 1-5. Habitus images of Caribbean Cephaloleia species. 1) C. barroi Uhmann. 2) C. brunnea Staines. 3) C. rubra Staines. 4) C. sandersoni Staines. 5) C. simplex, new species.