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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Systematic Entomology Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #339238
Research Project: Beetle Taxonomy and Systematics Supporting U.S. Agriculture, Arboriculture and Biological Control

Location: Systematic Entomology Laboratory

Title: Forgotten Aulacothorax Boheman, 1858, a senior synonym of Orthaltica Crotch, 1873 (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Galerucinae: Alticini)

Author
item BEZDEK, J - Mendel University
item Konstantinov, Alexander - Alex

Submitted to: The Coleopterists Bulletin
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/15/2017
Publication Date: 12/18/2017
Citation: Bezdek, J., Konstantinov, A.S. 2017. Forgotten Aulacothorax Boheman, 1858, a senior synonym of Orthaltica Crotch, 1873 (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Galerucinae: Alticini). The Coleopterists Bulletin. 7(1):1-5.

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 documents a discovery of a forgotten specimen briefly described by a Swedish entomologist Carl Boheman in 1858 and provides a complete description and illustrations of the specimen. This discovery significantly improves leaf beetle classification. The study will be useful to biological control workers, evolutionary biologists, ecologists, and anyone interested in plant feeding beetles.

Technical Abstract: A discovery of the holotype of Aulacothorax exilis Boheman, 1858 originally described in Scydmaeninae (Staphylinidae) in the collections of Naturhistoriska Riksmuseet Stockholm in Sweden revealed that this species is actually a leaf beetle (Chrysomelidae) belonging to a genus until now known as Orthaltica Crotch, 1873. Because Aulacothorax is available since 1858, while Orthaltica since 1873, we here synonymize Orthaltica with Aulacothorax. Aulacothorax exilis is redescribed and illustrated.