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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Beetles (Coleoptera) » Polyphaga » Series Cucujiformia » Longhorn and Leaf Beetles (Chrysomeloidea) » Leaf Beetles (Chrysomelidae) » Aquatic Leaf Beetles (Donaciinae)

Subfamily Donaciinae - Aquatic Leaf Beetles

Classification · Other Common Names · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Size · Identification · Range · Habitat · Food · Life Cycle · Works Cited

Donacia magnifica (LeConte) - Donacia magnifica

Plateumaris sp ? - Plateumaris shoemakeri

Donaciine on Carex lurida - Plateumaris nitida

aquatic leaf beetle - Donacia cincticornis

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 Donaciinae (Aquatic Leaf Beetles)

Other Common Names

Reed beetles

Synonyms and other taxonomic changes

see (1)

Explanation of Names

Donaciinae Kirby 1837

see Donacia

Numbers

55 spp. in 5 genera in our area, ~170 spp. total(2)(3)

Size

5.6‒13.5 mm

Identification

keys to western spp. in (4)

Characters of the pronotum, legs, and pygidium are used to identify adults, but for some groups dissection of the endophallus is needed.

Range

mostly holarctic (incl. much of NA), with very few spp. to the south (2). One genus is African. One subgenus is Asian.

Habitat

larvae aquatic, attached to host stems/roots(2); adults on vegetation bordering standing water (ponds, marshes, lakes), and slow moving streams and rivers

Food

larvae tap the submerged stems of host plants for food and oxygen. Adults graze on the epidermis of leaves, some feed on pollen

Life Cycle

Details about oviposition, larval development, pupation and overwintering are not well known Hoffman 1940 made an incredible study on this subject, in Michigan.

Works Cited

1.	An annotated list of Nearctic Donaciinae (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) Ingolf S. Askevold. 1991. Psyche 98: 165-192.

2.	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.

3.	Chrysomelid males with enlarged mandibles: three new species and a review of occurrence in the family (Coleoptera:Chrysomelidae) Reid C.A.M., Beatson M. 2013. Zootaxa 3619: 79–100.

4.	The subfamily Donaciinae in Utah (Insecta: Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) Clark S.M., Olsen A.B., Goodman M.H. 2008. Monographs of the Western North American Naturalist 4: 1–37.

Contributed by Robin McLeod on 20 August, 2005 - 12:27pm
Additional contributions by Mike Quinn, v belov, Ingolf
Last updated 14 July, 2024 - 2:13pm

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