The life cycle of a Brazilian Chlamisus leaf beetle on its Malvaceae host plants (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae, Cryptocephalinae, Fulcidacini)

Abstract

The Fulcidacini (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae, Cryptocephalinae) is a group of beetles in which the females build a shelter of feces around their eggs and the hatched larvae maintain and expand this shelter with their own feces. Chlamisus Rafinesque, 1815 is the largest genus in the Fulcidacini, but immatures of only 25 of the ~400 recognized species have been reported. This paper presents, for the first time, the complete and detailed life cycle of a Chlamisus species. Adults were found feeding on Malvaceae (Hermannieae) in the semi-arid region of Brazil; some were collected for laboratory rearing and observation. Captive adults oviposited in individual containers. These eggs were kept in individual containers and after hatching, the larvae were fed and monitored daily until the adults emerged. The pre-imaginal period lasted 87.0 days, with four larval instars, each building on the fecal case from the previous instar. The period from egg fecal capsule to larval emergence was 14.75 days. The larval period lasted approximately 46.54 days. The period in the pupa fecal chamber lasted for 28.5 days. The active period of the immature represented about 45% of its total development time. This Chlamisus sp. appears to be monophagous in a broader sense, completing its development on related species and genera of Malvaceae (Hermannieae) and probably having more than one generation per year. The larvae exhibit a novel behavior in their case-construction, cutting off and discarding part of the case before pupation. The pupal chamber appears to be a novelty, mimicking the dried inflorescence of its Malvaceae host plants (in the genera Waltheria Linnaeus and Melochia Linnaeus).