First record of Eremionycha bahiana (Boheman) infesting Tabebuia sp

França, S. MSilva, P. R. RSilva, J. D. CAraújo, A. A. RMoreira, S. I

The Chrysomelidae is the second largest family regarding the number of species within the order Coleoptera. It consists of 37,000 species grouped into 19 subfamilies. Among these subfamilies, most presents species considered agricultural pests ( Chaboo, 2007 ; Laumann et al., 2004 ; Stolar and Bidau, 1997 ). The subfamily Cassidinae has about 6,000 species distributed into 324 genera. They can be found worldwide, with a higher diversity in the tropics, especially in South America and less frequently in North America and Australia ( Chaboo, 2007 ). According to Barney et al. (2007) , the subfamily Cassidinae currently includes two previously recognized subfamilies: Hispinae (“hispines” or leaf-mining beetles) and Cassidinae (tortoise beetles). The species of this subfamily feed on leaves and are associated with the Boraginaceae, Bignoniaceae, Asteraceae, Convolvulaceae and Solanaceae families, and also associated with other no host plants ( Boldt and Staines, 1993 ; Buzzi, 1988 ; Virkki et al., 1992 ). Coleoptera specimens of all developmental stages were collected manually in plants of the genus Tabebuia sp. (Bignoniaceae) at the Agricultural Sciences Center, Socopo campus, Teresina, Piauí state, located in the campus of the Federal University of Piauí (UFPI). They were housed in small cages (transparent plastic pots, 500 mL capacity) and their development was observed at laboratorial conditions. Samples of these insects were sent to a taxonomist for species identification. Images of specimens were obtained using the stereo microscope Hirox at the São Paulo University (Esalq/USP, Piracicaba, SP) Electron Mycroscopy Laboratory and the Nikon SMZ1500 at the Federal University of Lavras (UFLA, Lavras, MG) Electron Microscopy Laboratory.(AU)