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Herbivory in gingers from latest Cretaceous to present: is the ichnogenus Cephaloleichnites (Hispinae, Coleoptera) a rolled-leaf beetle?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 July 2015

Carlos García-Robledo
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, University of Miami, 1301 Memorial Dr., Coral Gables, Florida 33124,
Charles L. Staines
Affiliation:
Department of Entomology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. 20560

Extract

It is suggested that rolled-leaf hispine beetles (Hispinae, Coleoptera) and plants from the order Zingiberales maintained a highly specialized plant-herbivore interaction for >60 My. The evidence supporting this old and conservative interaction are herbivory marks found on leaves of the genus Zingiberopsis (Zingiberaceae) from the latest Cretaceous and early Eocene. This fossil herbivory was described as the ichnotaxon Cephaloleichnites strongii (Hispinae, Coleoptera), based on the assumption that this type of herbivory can be solely attributed to extant rolled-leaf beetles. This ichnotaxon has been a key element in several analyses on the origin, radiation and diversification of tropical insect herbivores. In this paper we report feeding patterns equivalent to those described in Zingiberopsis fossils but produced by larvae of Pyralidae and Choreutidae (Lepidoptera) and Anopsilus weevils (Curculionidae, Coleoptera) in four families of extant Zingiberales. We discuss the implications of C. strongii not being a rolled leaf beetle and how this may affect the current knowledge of the co-diversification of rolled-leaf beetles and their host plants from the order Zingiberales.

Type
Paleontological Notes
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

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