Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada

Genus Diorhabda

Tamarisk Leaf Beetle - Diorhabda carinulata - male Subtropical tamarisk beetle on saltcedar plants - Diorhabda sublineata Subtropical Tamarisk Beetle - Diorhabda sublineata - female Diorhabda? - Diorhabda Coleoptera - Diorhabda Coleoptera - Diorhabda Chrysomelidae; Diorhabda? - Diorhabda carinulata Diorhabda? - Diorhabda carinulata
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Coleoptera (Beetles)
Suborder Polyphaga
No Taxon (Series Cucujiformia)
Superfamily Chrysomeloidea (Longhorn and Leaf Beetles)
Family Chrysomelidae (Leaf Beetles)
Subfamily Galerucinae (Skeletonizing Leaf Beetles and Flea Beetles)
Tribe Galerucini
No Taxon (Section Atysites)
Genus Diorhabda
Other Common Names
Saltcedar Leaf Beetle(1), Tamarisk Beetle
Explanation of Names
Diorhabda Weise 1883
Numbers
5 spp. in our area (4 spp. intentionally introduced to control tamarisk + D. meridionalis)(2), 16 total
Range
native to drier regions of the Palaearctic(2) from the Mediterranean to w. China; introduced in sw./w. US(3)(1)
Food
Larvae and adults feed exclusively on species of saltcedar (genus Tamarix).
Remarks
Introduced to control invasive shrubs of the genus Tamarix(3)
species in our area are D. elongata, D. carinata, D. sublineata, D. carinulata and D. meridionalis, all members of the D. elongata species group(2)
D. elongata sensu stricto is Mediterranean, "w. China & e. Kazakhstan" cited in (1) is in error; the species ranging into w. China is D. carinulata(2)
Internet References
Works Cited
1.Biological control for weeds in Texas
2.Taxonomic revision and biogeography of the Tamarix-feeding Diorhabda elongata (Brullé, 1832) species group...
Tracy J.L., Robbins T.O. 2009. Zootaxa 2101, 152 pp.
3.American Beetles, Volume II: Polyphaga: Scarabaeoidea through Curculionoidea
Arnett, R.H., Jr., M. C. Thomas, P. E. Skelley and J. H. Frank. (eds.). 2002. CRC Press LLC, Boca Raton, FL.