Texas Beetle Information

Return to Texas Entomology - Compiled by Mike Quinn

Blue-banded Lema Leaf Beetle

Lema solani Fabricius

Family Chrysomelidae, Subfamily Criocerinae, Tribe Lemini

Cumberland County, North Carolina
July 22, 2004 (Lynette Schimming)

State Records for Lema solani

State Record Source: (Riley et al, 2003)

Range: Southeastern United States (Riley et al, 2003)

Adult Activity: May 16-August 26 in Alabama based on 17 specimens (Balsbaugh & Hays 1972).

Hosts: This species is associated with Solanaceae, having been recorded from Nicotiana tabacum and Solanum spp. (Clark et al, 2004)

Similar Species:

This large genus includes hundreds of described species and probably many more undescribed (Arnett et al. 2002)
Most species are found in the tropical and subtropical areas of the world.
There are at 14 species of Lema north of Mexico (Riley et al, 2003).

Texas Taxa:

Lema conjuncta Lacordaire
Lema nigrovittata (Guérin-Méneville)
Lema opulenta Harold
Lema pubipes H. Clark
Lema solani Fabricius
Lema trabeata Lacordaire
Lema trivittata trivittata Say

References:

Arnett, R.H., Jr., M.C. Thomas, P.E. Skelley & J.H. Frank. (editors). 2002. American Beetles, Volume II: Polyphaga: Scarabaeoidea through Curculionoidea. CRC Press. 861 pp.

Balsbaugh, E.U. & K.L. Hays. 1972. The Leaf beetles of Alabama (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae). Auburn University Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletin 441:1-223.

Clark, S.M., D.G. LeDoux, T.N. Seeno, E.G. Riley, A.J. Gilbert & J.M. Sullivan. 2004. Host plants of leaf beetle species occurring in the United States and Canada (Coleoptera: Megalopodidae, Orsodacnidae, Chrysomelidae exclusive of Bruchinae). Coleopterists Society, Special Publication no. 2, 476 pp.

Green, G. 1939. The biology of Lema sexpunctata Oliv. Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society, 12:128-132.

Kaufmann, D.L. 1967. Notes on the biology of three species of Lema (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) with larval descriptions and key to described United States species. Jour. Kans. Entomol. Soc. 40: 361-372.

Kogan, M. & R.D. Goeden. 1970. The biology Lema trilineata daturaphila, (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) with notes on efficiency of food utilization by larvae. Ann. Entomol. Soc. Amer. 63: 537-546.

Lawson, F.A. 1991. Chrysomelidae (Chrysomeloidea) Pp. 568-593. In: Stehr, F.W. (editor) Immature Insects. Volume 2. Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, Dubuque, Iowa. xiv + 975 pp.

Mann, J.S. & J.P. Singh. 1979. Female reproductive system and genitalia of genus Lema (Criocerinae: Chrysomelidae: Coleoptera). Entomon. 4(1):89-94.

Monrós, F. (1959) 1960. Los Géneros de Chrysomelidae. Opera Lilloana, 3: 1-337.

Peterson A. 1951. Larvae of Insects; Part II -- Coleoptera, Diptera, Neuroptera, Siphonaptera, Mecoptera, Trichoptera. Edwards Bros., Inc., Ann Arbor, Mich. 416 p.

Riley, E.G., S.M. Clark, & T.N. Seeno. 2003. Catalog of the leaf beetles of America north of Mexico (Coleoptera: Megalopodidae, Orsodacnidae and Chrysomelidae, excluding Bruchinae). Coleopterists Society, Special Publication no. 1, 290 pp.

Sailsbury, M.B. 1943. The comparative morphology and taxonomy of some larval Criocerinae (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae). Bulletin of the Brooklyn Entomological Society, 38: 59-74,128-139.

Schmitt, M. 1988. The Criocerinae: biology, phylogeny and evolution. Pp. 475-495, In: Jolivet P., Petitpierre E., Hsiao, T.H., (editors). Biology of Chrysomelidae. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht. xxiv + 615 pp.