Moss inhabiting flea beetles (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Galerucinae: Alticini) of the West Indies II: Menudos, a new genus from Puerto Rico and description of methods to collect moss inhabiting flea beetles

Abstract

Menudos Linzmeier & Konstantinov, a new genus of moss inhabiting flea beetles, containing five species, three of them are new (M. illariosus, M. maricao, and M. toronegro—the type species of the genus), from Puerto Rico is described and illustrated. The new genus is compared to Aedmon Clark, Apleuraltica Bechyne, Andersonaltica Linzmeier & Konstantinov, Distigmoptera Blake and Ulrica Scherer. Aedmon barberi (Blake, 1943b) and Distigmoptera chamorrae Konstantinov & Konstantinova, 2011 are transferred to Menudos. A key to Menudos species identification is provided. Methods for collecting moss inhabiting flea beetles and other arthropods are described in detail for the first time.

The Biology and Immature Stages of the Moss-Eating Flea Beetle Cangshanaltica fuanensis sp. nov. (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae, Galerucinae, Alticini), with Description of a Fan-Driven High-Power Berlese Funnel

“…Traditional Berlese funnel (using a light bulb as light and heating source) was frequently used for extracting the soil, leaf litter and moss inhabiting arthropods, including flea beetles [6]. These samples usually contain high level of moisture and it is very time-consuming to process these samples until they dry using traditional Berlese funnel.…”

“…The moss and leaf litter inhabiting flea beetles (Alticini) are not well studied due to their relatively cryptic living environment. Their tremendous diversity has been highlighted by recent studies (e.g., [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 ]). Most known moss inhabiting leaf beetles belong to the tribe Alticini [ 12 ].…”

Molecular phylogeny of moss‐inhabiting flea beetles from the Chabria group (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Alticini) reveals multiple colonizations and radiations in Taiwan

“…A typical example of a diverse but understudied group of flightless beetles are leaf‐litter‐inhabiting and moss‐inhabiting flea beetles (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Alticini). A number of studies during the past few decades (Konstantinov & Konstantinova, 2011; Konstantinov et al ., 2013; Konstantinov et al ., 2014; Damaška & Konstantinov, 2016; Takizawa & Konstantinov, 2018; Linzmeier & Konstantinov, 2020) revealed a giant undescribed diversity of flea beetles inhabiting moss‐cushions and leaf litter around the world, especially in mountain areas. Moss‐inhabiting flea beetles usually share some of the following characters: (i) reduction or loss of wings, leading to reductions of meso‐ and metathoracic structures and metendosternite; (ii) compact body shape; (iii) round and convex body; (iv) antennae tending to form a club; (v) small body size.…”

Moss inhabiting flea beetles of the West Indies III: Erinaceialtica, a new genus from Hispaniola (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae, Galerucinae, Alticini)

“…Specimens that form a foundation of this paper were collected on the island of Hispaniola. The ones that we have collected in 2005,2006, and 2014 were extracted from moss cushions the same way as the other moss-inhabiting flea beetles were (for methods see Linzmeier and Konstantinov 2020). However, it remains unknown if Erinaceialtica albicincta (Blake, 1945) and E. hugonis (Blake, 1943a) collected by Darlington in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, respectively, came from moss cushions, although they both were found at significant altitude where moss is generally available.…”