Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Trirhabda flavolimbata (Mannerheim)
Range
Coastal CA -- San Francisco region
(2)Food
The primary host of T. flavolimbata is clearly Baccharis pilularis. Palmer (1986) noted that:
"Although T. flavolimbata has been recorded on a number of host plants other than B. pilularis, such as Aster, Solidago, Artemesia, Senecio and Eriodictyon (Essig 1929; Blake 1931; Tilden 1953), the citations were all prior to the taxonomic revision of the genus by Hogue(3) (1970) who considered B. pilularis to be the only host."
However,
T. flavolimbata has been
photographed feeding on
B. douglasii, and seen and collected on
Aster chilensis (cf. pg. 152 of Palmer...and the last paragraph of
this BG post).
Life Cycle
Details of life cycle are described in Tilden (1953).
See Also
T. labrata is a "look-alike" which even shares the same host plant:
Baccharis pilularis.
There are also 4 other CA species of Trirhabda that might easily be mistaken for T. flavolimbata. They are:
T. luteocincta and T. sericotrachlya...which share Artemisia californica as their host plant; and
T. confusa and T. manisi...which share Ericameria (Chrysothamnus) nauseosa as their host plant.
Print References
J.W. Tilden (1953). "Biological Notes on Trirhabda flavolimbata (Chrysomelidae)". The Coleopterists Bulletin, Vol. 7, No. 3, pp. 20-23 (
1st page at JSTOR).
W.A. Palmer (1986). "The Host Range of Trirhabda flavolimbata (Mannerheim) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) and Its Suitability as a Biological Control Agent for Baccharis Spp. (Asteraceae: Astereae)", The Coleopterists Bulletin Vol. 40, No. 2, pp. 149-153 (
1st page at JSTOR)
