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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Systematic Entomology Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #363308
Research Project: Beetle Taxonomy and Systematics Supporting U.S. Agriculture, Arboriculture and Biological Control

Location: Systematic Entomology Laboratory

Title: A new species of Bonfilsus Scherer 1967 (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Galerucinae: Alticini) from the Dominican Republic

Author
item MICHELI, A. - Smithsonian Institute
item Konstantinov, Alexander - Alex

Submitted to: Journal of Insect Biodiversity
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/8/2019
Publication Date: 9/14/2019
Citation: Micheli, A.Y., Konstantinov, A.S. 2019. A new species of Bonfilsus Scherer 1967 (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Galerucinae: Alticini) from the Dominican Republic. Journal of Insect Biodiversity. 11(1):1-9. https://e.arsnet.usda.gov/sites/NEA/barc/SEL/Manuscript%20Submissions/2019/Konstantinov363308.pdf.

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 the Dominican Republic. The species is described, illustrated and compared to a known species of the. 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 previously monotypic genus of flea beetle, Bonfilsus Scherer 1967, is described from the Dominican Republic. This is the first record of Bolfilsus from the island of Hispaniola. The new species is compared to the only known species of the genus [B. subpubescens (Bechyne)] and its distinguishing features as well as other morphological characters are illustrated and described.