Camptosomata

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Camptosomata
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Family: Chrysomelidae
(unranked): Camptosomata
Subfamilies

Cryptocephalinae
Lamprosomatinae

Camptosomata are the case-bearing leaf beetles or camptosomates, named for their larval habit of carrying a case of waste material. This group consists of two subfamilies of Chrysomelidae (leaf beetles): Lamprosomatinae and Cryptocephalinae (which include the former Chlamisinae and Clytrinae). [1]

Each case begins as a wrapping that the mother creates by laying plates of fecal material around each egg. She begins at one end of the egg and turns it with the addition of each plate. She then closes it by creating a "roof" at the other end. When the larva hatches from the egg, it opens the roof of the egg case. it then extends it head and legs from this opening, flips the case over its back and crawls away. Larval camptosomates add to and expand this case with their own waste materials as they grow. They eventually seal off the opening where their head and legs were and pupate inside. When they metamorphose into adults, these beetles then cut a circle around the apex of the case, pop off the cap, and crawl out, ready to feed, mate, and start the cycle over again. [2]

Footnotes

  1. Erber (1988)
  2. Brown & Funk (2005)

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Fulcidacini Tribe of beetles

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<i>Chrysochus auratus</i> Species of beetle

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<i>Labidostomis longimana</i> Species of beetle

Labidostomis longimana is a species of short-horned leaf beetles belonging to the family Chrysomelidae, subfamily Clytrinae.

<i>Parasyrphus nigritarsis</i> Species of fly

Parasyrphus nigritarsis is a species of hoverfly, from the family Syrphidae, in the order Diptera. It is known from northern Europe and North America, and has been considered to be a rare species in parts of its range. Adults visit flowers as a source of nutrition, and females lay their eggs on clutches of eggs of leaf beetles. When the Parasyrphus larvae hatch, they first consume leaf beetle eggs and then consume immature beetles until they reach the pupal stage. This species is related to hoverflies that prey on aphids as larvae, and has been investigated in studies of chemical ecology and food web ecology.

Fecal shield

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<i>Phratora vitellinae</i> Species of beetle

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<i>Labidostomis cyanicornis</i> Species of beetle

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References