Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
LeConte described the species in 1824.
Explanation of Names
scal, -ari is Latin for ladder
(1)
Linden is another common name (seems to be more used in England than the US) for Basswood, Tilia sp., which is one of its preferred food plants.
Numbers
37 spp in genus north of Mexico
(2)Identification
C. scalaris specimen determined by E.G. Riley:
Range
TX to GA to ME to SD; se Canada
(3)Food
Feeds on foliage of Elm, Linden/Basswood, Alder and Willow.
(4)
Hosts are Elms,
Ulmus sp. (Ulmaceae). Other plant associations are "almost certainly incidental" or based on misidentification of the beetle. In lab tests, larvae survived on
Tilia americana, however this is probably not a natural host.
(5)
Per Brown (1945), North American Calligrapha spp. are monophagous on particular shrubs and trees.
Life Cycle
Some populations of Calligrapha scalaris reproduce parthenogenically (see various refs)
Remarks
"American Elm historically has been the most common host species of this attractive beetle. The beetle was once quite common, but Dutch Elm Disease has reduced the numbers of that host plant and thus of the beetle as well." - Insects of West Virginia
Print References
Balsbaugh, E.U. & K.L. Hays. 1972. Leaf beetles of Alabama. Auburn University Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletin 441: 1-223.
Brown, W.J. 1945. Food-plants and distribution of the species of Calligrapha in Canada, with description of new species (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae). Can. Entomol 77: 117–133.
Furth, D.G. 1994. A new case of parthenogenesis in beetles:
Longitarsus melanurus (Melsheimer) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae). J. New York Entomol. Soc. 102(3): 310-317.
ABSTRACT
Gomez-Zurita, J., D.J. Funk, & A.P. Vogler. 2006. The evolution of unisexuality in Calligrapha leaf beetles: molecular and ecological insights on origins via interspecific hybridization. Evolution 60: 328-347. [
PDF]
Robertson, J.G. 1966. The chromosomes of bisexual and parthenogenetic species of Calligrapha (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) with notes on sex ratio, abundance and egg number. Can. J. Genet. Cytol 8: 695–732.
Internet References
Photo and fact sheet - Insects of West Virginia
