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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Systematic Entomology Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #362823
Research Project: Beetle Taxonomy and Systematics Supporting U.S. Agriculture, Arboriculture and Biological Control

Location: Systematic Entomology Laboratory

Title: A new species of Phyllotreta Chevrolat 1836 (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Galerucinae: Alticini) from Omsk region of Russia with comments of Phyllotreta species diversity in Northeastern Palearctic

Author
item Konstantinov, Alexander - Alex
item MOSEYKO, A. - US Department Of Agriculture (USDA)

Submitted to: Zootaxa
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/2/2019
Publication Date: 10/2/2019
Citation: Konstantinov, A.S., Moseyko, A.G. 2019. A new species of Phyllotreta Chevrolat 1836 (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Galerucinae: Alticini) from Omsk region of Russia with comments of Phyllotreta species diversity in Northeastern Palearctic. Zootaxa. 4679(3):499-501.

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 flea beetle species previously unknown to science in Southwestern Siberia. The newly discovered species belongs to a genus, many species of which are pests of cultivated plants from the mustard family. The species is described, illustrated and compared to a known species of the genus from the same species group. The study will be useful to biological control workers, evolutionary biologists, ecologists, and anyone interested in plant feeding beetles.

Technical Abstract: A new species of flea beetle genus Phyllotreta Chevrolat 1836 (P. sholaksori new species) is described from shores of saline lakes in Southwestern Siberia. It is compared with species with which it was collected as well as with species comprising a group to which it belongs (P. araxicola Jablokoff-Khnzorian 1968, P. astrachanica Lopatin 1977, P. atra Fabricius 1775, P. balcanica Heikertinger 1909, P. cruciferae Goeze 1777, and P. diademata Fourdas 1860). All these species are illustrated and included in the key.