Moss-inhabiting flea beetles (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Galerucinae: Alticini) with description of a new genus from Cangshan, China

Abstract

The world diversity of moss cushion-inhabiting and moss-feeding flea beetles is documented and discussed. A new genus (Cangshanaltica) with a single new species (Cangshanaltica nigra sp. nov.) from Yunnan Province in China is described and illustrated. It is similar to Benedictus Scherer, Ivalia Jacoby, Minota Weise, Paraminota Scherer, and Phaelota Jacoby. An identification key for all flea beetle genera known to occur in mosses in the eastern hemisphere is provided. http://www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:6341724E-BA3F-4979-B226-108D0CA64B92

Keywords:

• moss
• bryobionts
• new genus
• species
• flea beetles
• Asia

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to D. Nelson (USDA, Forest Service, International Research Programs, Washington DC, USA) for partial funding for exploration in China. M. Volkovitsh (Zoological Institute, St Petersburg, Russia), Hongxia Xu (Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China) and T. Petrice (USDA, Forest Service, Northern Research Station, MI, USA) are thanked for camaraderie and companionship during the 2011 explorations in China. M. Gates and A. Norrbom (Systematic Entomology Laboratory, Washington DC, USA), and C. Staines (Department of Entomology, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, USA) thoroughly reviewed earlier versions of this manuscript and provided valuable suggestions. We thank M. Buffington and M. Gates (Systematic Entomology Laboratory, Washington, DC) for their help with the digital cameras and image capture and editing. We are grateful to M. Nair (Department of Botany, Zamorin’s Guruvayoorappan College, Kozhikode and the Malabar Botanic Garden, Calicut, Kerala, India) for identification of the moss samples from the gut of Cangshanaltica nigra. KDP is funded by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research Network Project on Insect Systematics and the Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment, Trivandrum. Habitus illustration are the work of K. Arakawa (Ibaraki, Japan), A. N. Brown (USA), S. V. Edgerton (San Francisco CA), and E. Roberts (Systematic Entomology Laboratory, Washington DC, USA). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.