New genus and species of flea beetles (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae, Galerucinae, Alticini) from Puerto Rico, with comments on flea beetle diversity in the West Indies and a key to the West Indian Monoplatini genera

Abstract

A new genus (Borinken) and five new species (Borinken elyunque, Distigmoptera chamorrae, Kiskeya elyunque, Ulrica eltoro, and Ulrica iviei) from Puerto Rico are described and illustrated. A keyto all West Indian Monoplatini genera is provided, as are keys to all speciesof Kiskeya and to the speciesof Ulrica from Puerto Rico. A list of the flea beetle genera, along with the number of species and some of the faunal features is presented and discussed for the West Indies.

Leaf litter and moss-inhabiting flea beetles of Hong Kong (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Alticini)

“…The fl ea beetle fauna of leaf litter and moss cushions form an understudied ecological group of beetles, in which many new genera and species have been described in recent years (LINZMEIER & KONSTANTINOV 2018, RUAN et al 2017, DAMAŠKA & KONSTANTINOV 2016, KONSTANTINOV et al 2013, KONSTANTINOV & KONSTANTINOVA 2011. In Asia, the most species-rich moss-inhabiting fl ea beetle genera are Ivalia Jacoby, 1887 (77 known species) and Benedictus Scherer, 1969 (27 known species).…”

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

“…Menudos differs immediately from Ulrica, which in having glabrous head, pronotum, and elytra; antennae with distal antennomeres not much wider than basal; relatively small punctures on the dorsal surface of the body; smooth dorsal surface and flat elytral interspaces; and long metatarsal spur (Konstantinov & Konstantinova 2011).…”

“…They can be differentiated (characters for Apleuraltica in parenthesis) by the presence of at least one antennomere distinctly lighter in color (antennomere unicolored); antennomeres 8 to 10 almost rounded to longer than wide (antennomeres 8 to 10 wider than long); pronotum with two ridges anteromedially (pronotum with three ridges, two anteromedially and one posteromedially); basal calli poorly developed (basal calli well developed); if present at all, only a small depression posterior to basal callus more or less evident (well-developed impression posterior to basal callus); metatibia without transverse ridge above insertion of tarsus (metatibia with transverse ridge above insertion of tarsus forming a preapical dorsal projection, in lateral view). This last character in Apleuraltica was misinterpreted in Konstantinov & Konstantinova (2011).…”

“…Moss inhabiting Monoplatina share these features with other flea beetles inhabiting moss cushions in the West Indies, e.g. Borinken Konstantinova, 2011 andKiskeya Konstantinov &Chamorro-Lacayo, 2006. At the same time species within a particular genus are often very similar morphologically (Konstantinov et al in press) and can only be separated based on seemingly insignificant yet consistent features of their morphology, particularly male and female genitalia.…”

“…In this paper we describe three species of bryobiont monoplatine flea beetles and provide new combinations for two previously known ones from Puerto Rico. One of the known species [Menudos chamorrae (Konstantinov & Konstantinova, 2011)] was originally placed in Distigmoptera Blake, 1943a (type species Distigmoptera apicalis Blake, 1943a by original designation), a genus with 16 known species distributed in North and Central America (Konstantinov et al 2019). Another species, [Hadropoda barberi (Blake, 1943b)], subsequently considered to be an Aedmon Clark, 1860 as Hadropoda was synonymized with it (Scherer 1962).…”