Coelaenomenodera

Introduction

Coelaenomenodera Blanchard (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Cassidinae) contains 42 species from Africa (Staines 2012) and is in need of revision. Little biological work has been done on Coelaenomenodera species but three species have been associated with palms. Much of the earlier literature discussed C. elaeidis Maulik. Berti & Mariau (1999) found that mixed populations of C. elaeidis and C. lameensis Berti & Mariau were involved in outbreaks in Cameroon and Ivory Coast. Therefore one can not be sure what species was studied in the earlier literature but almost all work done since 1999 deals with C. lameensis Berti & Mariau rather than C. elaeidis. Also, some literature refers to C. minuta Uhmann, which is currently a synonym of C. elaeidis.

Distribution

Coelaenomenodera elaeidis Maulik is found in Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Ivory Coast, and Sierra Leone.

Coelaenomenodera lameensis Berti & Mariau is found in Cameroon and Ivory Coast.

Coelaenomenodera perrieri Fairmaire is found in Madagascar.

Hosts

Coelaenomenodera elaeidis feeds on Cocos nucifera L., Elaeis guineensis Jacq. (Maulik 1920); Borassus sp. (Lepesme 1947); and E. oleifera Cortes (Mariau et al. 1997) (Arecaceae).

Coelaenomenodera lameensis feeds on Elaeis guineensis Jacq. (Arecaceae) (Berti & Mariau 1999).

Coelaenomenodera perrieri feeds on Cocos nucifera L. (Arecaceae) (Mariau 1988).

Damage

Adults feed on the underside of the fronds and cause groove-like channels 1-2 cm long parallel to the mid-vein. Larvae construct an elongate blotch-type mine.

Life history notes

Eggs are laid in a small cavity on the underside of palm fronds and covered with a mucous material or fibrous substance. Larvae hatch and begin to construct an elongate blotch-type mine. There are four larval instars. Pupation occurs within the mine and the pupa is mobile inside the leaf.

Mariau (1976, 2004) and Mariau & Lecoustre (2004) investigated the life history of C. lameensis. Adults are yellowish-orange and about 6.5 mm in length. Larvae are yellow and about 6.5 mm when mature. Females lay between 0-500 eggs over 3-4 weeks. The larger number of eggs produced is closely tied to higher temperatures and higher humidity. The eggs hatch in about 20 days. Larvae require about 44 days to complete development and the mature leaf-mine averages 3.5 cm². The pupal stage lasts about 20 days. The total life cycle is from 90-96 days. Adults exit the mine via the lower leaf surface. Females feed for about 20 days before laying eggs. There are four generations per year. Numerous parasites and predators have been reported.

Mariau (1975, 1988) reported on the life history of C. perrieri. The life history is similar to C. lameensis but the entire life cycle takes 65 days and the mature larval mine is 1.75 cm². Adults exit the mine via the upper leaf surface. Attacks usually begin on younger palms. A number of parasites have been reported (Mariau 1988).

Bibliography

Berti, N. & D. Mariau. 1999. Coelaenomenodera lameensis n. sp., ravageur du palmier à huile (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae). Nouvelle Revue Entomolgie 16 (3): 253-267.

Lepesme, P. 1947. Les insectes des palmiers. Lechevailer. Paris. 903 pp.

Mariau, D. 1975. Hispines du genre Coelaenomenodera ravageurs du cocotier á Madagascar. Oléagineux 30 (7): 303-309.

Mariau, D. 1976. Insect pests in West Africa. Pp. 369-383 In: Corley, R. H. V., J. J. Hardon, & B. J. Wood (eds). Oil palm research. Elsevier Scientific. Amsterdam, Netherlands. 532 pp.

Mariau, D. 1988. The parasites of Hispinae. pp. 449-461 in P. H. Jolivet, M. L. Cox, & E. Petitpierre (eds.) Novel aspects of the biology of Chrysomelidae. Kluwer Academica Publishers.

Mariau, D. 2004. Leaf beetles of oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) and coconut palm (Cocos nucifera). pp. 603-612 in P. Jolivet, J. A. Santiago-Blay, & M. Schmitt (eds.). New developments in the biology of Chrysomelidae. SPB Academic Publishing. The Hague. The Netherlands.

Mariau, D., B. Decazy, & J. Nguyen-Ban. 1997. Tolerant plant material. pp. 141-156 in D. Mariau (ed.). Integrated pest managment of tropical perennial crops. Science Publishers.

Mariau, D. & R. Lecoustre. 2004. An explanation for outbreaks of Coelaenomenodera lameensis Berti & Mariau (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae), a leaf miner of oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) in West Africa, based on a study of mortality factors. Journal of Tropical Insect Science 24 (2): 159-169.

Maulik, S. 1920. A new hispid beetle injurious to the oil palm in the Gold Coast. Bulletin of Entomological Research 10: 171-174.

Staines, C. L. 2012. Tribe Coelaenomenoderini. Catalog of the hispines of the world (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Cassidinae). http://entomology.si.edu/Collections_Coleoptera.html