[Aroid-l] leaf beetles on aroids

From: botanist at malesiana.com (Peter Boyce) on 2008.05.21 at 07:16:44(17597) Dear Peter, These sound to be chrysomelid beetles; they are a common leaf predator (also inflorescence predator or possibly pollinator) here in Sarawak. Ther particularly seem to go for Alocasia, Colocasia and Schismatoglottis and much less often Homalomena (maybe because of the resins) and climbers (possibly because of the sclereids). Chris Darling has done some excellent reserach into them. See attached images from here. Very best Peter +More ----- Original Message ----- From: "Peter Matthews" To: "Discussion of aroids" Sent: Tuesday, May 20, 2008 9:12 AM Subject: [Aroid-l] leaf beetles on aroids > Dear Aroiders, > > I am currently in the Philippines (Luzon) looking around for wild taros. > > Something I have noticed here is the presence of a large beetle > (irridescent green back, bright orange head) frequently feeding on the > leaves of Colocasia esculenta and very rarely on the naturalised > populations of Xanthosoma sagittifolium, and not at all on the native > Homolomena philippinensis. Nor on bananas or other obvious garden plants. > > The beetle is large, about 1.5 - 2 cm long, and cuts a circular line on > the leaf of taro before eating out the central portion, leaving an often > near-perfect circular hole in the leaf. The damage itself is quite > beautiful. > > Has anyone else seen such beetles on aroids, in the wild or in > cultivation, in the Philippines or in other countries? > > I have sme nice photos, but cannot post them until I get back to Japan. > > Peter Matthews (Manila, in transit) > > > _______________________________________________ > Aroid-L mailing list > Aroid-L at www.gizmoworks.com > http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: scabriuscula (AL-64) (Small).jpg Type: application/octet-stream Size: 76393 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/private/aroid-l/attachments/20080521/62618e9a/attachment-0002.dll -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: niahensis c.f. [AR-2071] (57) (Small).jpg Type: application/octet-stream Size: 21099 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/private/aroid-l/attachments/20080521/62618e9a/attachment-0003.dll

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