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Title: REVISION OF THE ORIENTAL SPECIES OF APHTHONA CHEVROLAT (COLEOPTERA: CHRYSOMELIDAE)

Author
item Konstantinov, Alexander - Alex
item Lingafelter, Steven

Submitted to: Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/13/2000
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Leaf beetles and in particular flea beetles are among the most important insects for U.S. agriculture. Many are serious pests and feed on crops and destroy valuable plants; others are important biological control agents that can be used to kill unwanted weeds. The genus Aphthona has been used extensively to control leafy spurge, a serious agricultural weed in North America. This work describes many new species in the genus and provides keys and descriptions to allow for their identification and thus make them available for potential use in biological control endeavors. This study will be useful to biological control workers, taxonomists, ecologists, and anyone interested in identifyng phytophagous beetles.

Technical Abstract: The Oriental Aphthona flea beetle species are revised. The genus includes 93 species, of which 34 are described as new. New species are from Nepal, India, Thailand, China, Vietnam, Guam, Pakistan, Philippine Islands, Japan, Myanmar, and Malaysia. Taxonomic changes include 17 new synonyms, 17 taxa removed from Aphthona and given either new status or new combinations, and designation of lectotypes for 49 species. For all species, keys, descriptions, morphological illustrations, distributions, and host plants are provided.