Altica caerulea Olivier 1791
Creators: name: Reid, C. A. M.
name: Beatson, M.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2015
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Chrysomelidae
Altica
Altica caerulea

description: Altica caerulea (Olivier 1791)
(Figs 4, 11, 16, 25, 26, 37, 38, 52, 53, 67, 68, 79)
Galeruca caerulea Olivier 1791: 590 (type locality: East Indies).
Graptodera coerulea [misspelling]: Allard 1891: 230.
Haltica coerulea [misspelling]: Maulik 1926: 423.
Altica coerulea [misspelling]: Gressitt & Kimoto 1963: 890 (misidentification, as junior synonym of A. cyanea); Kimoto 1966: 35 (valid species)
Altica coelurea [misspelling]: Kimoto 1972: 47.
Haltica elongata Jacoby 1884: 28 (type locality: Sumatra); syn. nov.
Altica elongata: Kimoto 2001: 159.
Altica brevicosta Weise 1922a: 110 (type locality: Luzon, Java, Canton, Darjeeling); Kimoto 1972: 47 (jun. syn. A. caerulea); Medvedev 2009: 22 (valid species); Döberl 2010a: 493 (jun. syn. A. caerulea).
Altica brevicostata [misspelling]: Kimoto 1965: 490.
Haltica brevicosta: Chen 1933: 51.
Material examined (263, * = specimen dissected). Types: Galeruca caerulea Olivier: Lectotype (this designation): ♂/ Dufresne 1936-50 217/ Galeruca coerulea 14/ Haltica coerulea Oliv.?cotype/ (NMSE); Paralectotype: female/ Dufresne 1936-50 216/ Galeruca coerulea 14/ Haltica coerulea Oliv.?cotype/ (NMSE); Altica elongata (Jacoby): Lectotype (this designation): ♂ [mounted on point, with penis already removed and glued on separately]/ Soeroel[angoen = Surulangun] 4.78 [written in black ink on faded bluish-grey paper label with printed square]/ Sumat. exped. [black ink on white card]/ 1st Jacoby coll./ F.C. Bowditch collection/ F.C. Bowditch collection/ label(s) same as type specimen/ (MCZ); Paralectotypes (2): ♂/ Silago 7.77/ [blue square label]/ Sumat. exped. / 1st Jacoby coll./ F.C. Bowditch collection/ Type 18717/ Altica elongata Jac. / Jan–Jul 2004 MCZ image database/ label(s) same as type specimen/ (MCZ); ♀[slightly teneral]/ Misauw [?] 7.78/ Sumat. exped. / [blue square label]/ 1st Jacoby coll./ (MCZ).
Non-type material: New South Wales: ♀/ Bruinswick Heads, at light, 9.iii.1981, BJ Day (AMS); 3/ Tweed R, Lea (AMS); Northern Territory: 4/ Adelaide R, 13°15S 131°06E, 17.x.1972, MS Upton (ANIC); 2/ Birraduk Ck, 18k NE Oenpelli, 12°17S 133°13E, 4.vi.1973, Upton & Feehan (ANIC); 3♂ *, 2♂, 2♀/ Blackmore R, nr Tumbling Waters, 12°46S 130°57E, 25.viii.1970, JV Peters (AMS); 2♀/ 46k SSW Borroloola, 16°28S 136°09E, 23.iv.1976, JE Feehan (ANIC); 1/ Burnside, 23.iii.1929, TG Campbell (ANIC); 3/ Cahills Xing, E Alligator R, 12°26S 132°58E, at light, 29.v.1973, EG Matthews (ANIC); 12/ 1k N Cahills Xing, E Alligator R, 12°25S 132°58E, 8.xi.1972, MS Upton (ANIC); 2, ditto, 11.xi.1972 (ANIC); 9/ 5k NNW Cahills Xing, E Alligator R, 12°23S 132°57E, 28.v.1973, EG Matthews (ANIC); 1, ditto, 8.vi.1973, Upton & Feehan (ANIC); 5/ 7k NNW Cahills Xing, E Alligator R, 12°23S 132°56E, 27.v.1973, EG Matthews (ANIC); 2/ Cooper Ck, 19k SE Mt Borradaile, 12°06S 133°04E, 9.xi.1972, MS Upton (ANIC); 2/ Daly R Mission, 17.viii.1974, J Hutchinson (ANIC); 4, ditto, 13°45S 138°41E, 8–24.vi.1974 (ANIC); 4, ditto, 24.ix.1974 (ANIC); ♂*/ Darwin, 1926, GF Hill (ANIC); 1, ditto, 1925 (ANIC); 3/ Delamere, 17.ix.1968, M Mendum (ANIC); 3, ditto, 6.vii.1968 (ANIC); 3 ditto, 28.vi.1968 (ANIC); 1, ditto, 12.ix.1968 (ANIC); ♂*, 3♂, 2♀/ E Alligator R, Oenpelli, 20.x.1948, JE Bray (AMS); 2♂, ditto, 21.x.1948 (AMS); 1/ E Alligator Ranger Sta., 12°26S 132°57E, at light, 15.viii.1990, MS Upton (ANIC); 2/ Elizabeth R, 21.iii.1968 BP Moore (ANIC); 3/ Ferguson R, 14°19S 131°50E, 25.vi.1968, M Mendum (ANIC); ♂*, 1/ Goose Lagoon, 11k SSW Borroloola, 16°10S 136°15E, at light, 17.iv.1975, J Feehan (ANIC); 2♂ *, 2♀/ Howard Springs, 16mi S Darwin, 22.viii.1970, JV Peters (AMS); 1/ Jabaluka Lagoon, 14k N Mudginberry HS, 12°28S 132°52E, 13.xi.1972, MS Upton (ANIC); 4/ 1k ENE Jarmarm, Keep R Xing, Keep R NP, 15°45S 129°06E, at light, 25–27.v.2001, T Weir & P Bouchard (ANIC); 6/ 5.5k NNE Jarmarm, Keep R NP, 15°44S 129°09E, at light, 27.v.2001, T Weir & P Bouchard (ANIC); 1/ 8k NE Jarmarm, Keep R NP, 15°45S 129°10E, spring, at light, 9.vi.2001, A. Calder (ANIC); 3/ 9k S Jarmarm, Keep R NP, 15°51S 129°06E, at light, 30.v.2001, T Weir & P Bouchard (ANIC); 1/ Katherine, 17–18.viii.1973, LP Kelsey (ANIC); 1, ditto, 16.viii.1973 (ANIC); 10/ Koongarra, 12°52S 132°50E, 6–10.iii.1973, MS Upton (ANIC); 1, ditto, 24.v.1973, EG Matthews (ANIC); 4/ Lakefield NP, Bizant, Python Waterhole, 14°44S 144°07E, at light also eating leaves of aquatic plants at edge of waterhole, 28.x.1992, T Weir & P. Zborowski (ANIC); 2/ Magela Ck, 1k NNW Mudginberry HS, 12°36S 132°52E, 25.v.1973, Matthews & Upton (ANIC); 6/ Magela Ck, 2k N Mudginberry HS, 12°35S 132°52E, 14.xi.1972, MS Upton (ANIC); 7, ditto, 25.v.1973, Matthews & Upton (ANIC); 2/ Mumbulloo Sta., Katherine, 10.vii.1929, TG Campbell (ANIC); 2/ Nabarlek Dam, 15k SW Nimbunah Rock, 12°20S 133°19E, at light, 2.vi.1973, EG Matthews (ANIC); 1/ Nankeen Billabong, 11k WSW Cannon Hill, 12°26S 132°51E, 3.viii.1981, P. Outridge (ANIC); 1/ Narbarlek, 12°19S 133°19E, 19.xi.1983, M Webb (ANIC); 1/ Newcastle Waters, 4.vi.1929, TG Campbell (ANIC); 1/ Nourlangie Ck, 8k E Mt Cahill, 12°52S 132°47E, at light, 22.v.1973 EG Matthews (ANIC); 3/ 6k SSW Oenpelli, 12°22S 133°01E, 6.vi.1973, Uton & Feehan (ANIC); 1/ 18k E Oenpelli, 12°17S 133°13E, 1.vi.1973, Matthews & Upton (ANIC); 1/ Sixty Mile, found on rice, 11.iv.1956, ID Crawford (ANIC); ♂/ S Alligator Motor Inn, 28.xii.1987, M Moulds (AMS); ♂*/ 1.5k E Stuart Hway on Warawange Rd, Darwin, at light, 24.vii.1979, LP Kelsey (ANIC); 19/ Tindal, 14°31S 132°22E, light trap, 1–20.xii.1967, WJM Vestjens (ANIC); 1/ 6.4k SSW Victoria R, along Wickham R, 18.vi.1973, LP Kelsey (ANIC); ♀*/ Victoria R roadhouse, Gregory NP, 15°36S 131°07E, woodland by river, 9.iv.2008, G Williams & W Pulawski (AMS); 1/ West Baines R, at xing, 28.v.1968, M Mendum (ANIC); Queensland: 3/ Ayr, 19°35S 147°24E 15.x.1970, WB Muir (ANIC); 1/ Bin Bin Ra., via Discot, 4.xii.1974, H. Frauca (ANIC); 2/ Brisbane (AMS); 5, ditto, Blackwood (AMS); 1, ditto, OW Tiegs (QMB); 1, ditto, 17.i.1912, H Hacker (QMB); 2, ditto, 11.ii.1912 (QMB); 4, ditto, 3.iii.1914 (QMB); 1, ditto, xi.1919, H Pottinger (QMB); 1/ Bucasia, 13.ii.2004, K Sandery (ANIC); 1, ditto, 22.i.2004 (ANIC); 1, ditto, 4.iii.2006 (ANIC); ♂*/ Bundaberg, 9.ix.1927, G Bates (ANIC); ♂*/ Byfield, 5.xii.1975, D Fricke (AMS); 1/ Cairns/ paratype / Oides cairnsensis Lea Queensland cotype/ on permanent loan from Macleay Museum University of Sydney/; ♀/ Cairns distr., JA Anderson (QMB); 1/ Cape York Peninsula, C French (AMS); ♂*/ Cardstone, i–ii.1972, D Perkins (AMS); 1/ Cloncurry, 1920 (AMS); ♂*, 3m, 4f/ Delta Downs Sta, 13.xi.1981, D Walford-Huggins (AMS); 1/ E Barrata, 23k N Ayr, Casuarina, 15.xi.1970, WB Muir (ANIC); 2/ Funnel Ck, 21°47S 148°55E, at light, 12.xii.1968, Britton & Misko (ANIC); 1/ Giru, at light, 20.xi.1981, B Lowery (ANIC); 1/ Ingham, 28.i.1968, JG Brooks (ANIC); ♀*/ Moa I, Torres Strait, 25.ii.1975 H Heatwole (AMS); 4/ Marmor x.1924, HJ C[arter] (ANIC); 1/ Moreton Bay (AMS); 1/ Mossman, 29.iii.1967, MS Upton (ANIC); 1/ Nassau R., NW Dunbar Sta., 18.xi.1983 A Walford-Huggins (ANIC); 2♂, 4♀, 2/ Normanby R, 9.ix.1930, Wassell (AMS); 4/ Normanton, x.1924, HJ C[arter] (ANIC); 1/ Old Laura Sta., at mv light, 4.iv.1983, A Walford-Huggins (ANIC); 1/ One Tree Hill, Brisbane, 17.i.1923, A Musgrave (AMS); ♀/ Pistol Gap, Byfield, 22°50S 150°40E, at light, 10.i.1970, Britton, Holloway & Misko (ANIC); ♂*, 31/ R[ockhamp]ton, ii.1968, AN, ex CGL Gooding coll. (ANIC); 1/ Townsville, FH Taylor (ANIC); 1, ditto, 6.ix.1975 PG Kelly (ANIC); 1, ditto, light trap, 26.iv–10.v.1968, P. Ferrar (ANIC); ♂*/ Wide Bay (AMS); Western Australia: ♂*/ Carson Escarpment, 14°49S 126°49E, 9–15.viii.1975, Common & Upton (ANIC); 3/ Kimberley Res. Sta, via Wyndham, 23.x.1956, ECB Langfield (ANIC); 2/ Kununurra, 21.ii.1984, T. Postle (ANIC; DAB); 1/ Wyndham, light trap, 21.vi.2004, T Vinnicombe (DAB); Indonesia: Kalimantan: ♂*, 3♀/ 38k N Balikpapan, Borneo, 2–15.iii.1992, Darling, Rosichon & Sutrisno (ROM); Sumatra: ♀*/ Kalianda, Sumatra, yellow Epilobium [sic], ii.2010, C Reid (AMS); Malaysia: Sarawak: ♂*/ Miri Lambir, uv light, 28–29.iv.1998 (AMS); 1, ditto, 16–17.vi.1999 (AMS); 1, ditto, 18–19.ii.1999 (AMS); Papua New Guinea: ♂*, 2/ Aroa Estate, W Redscar Bay, 1m, 30.ix.1958, JL Gressitt (BMH); 1/ Laloki, nr Port Morseby, 2.ix.1959, JL Gressitt (BMH); Timor Leste: ♂*, ♀/ Maliana, sweep of Oryza sativa, 19.iii.2009, A. Ximines (AMS); ♀/ 1.8k NW Quelicai, 8°35’37”S 126°33’51”E, dry rf patch, c 680m, TL2012/018/034, mv lamp, 3.vi.2012 (AMS).
Description. Relatively large, length male 5.6–6.7mm, female 5.7–7.0mm.
Colour: dorsum entirely dark blue (typical colour in Indomalaya, rare in Australia), dark green or dark purple, or bicoloured with green head and pronotum and purple elytra (typical colour in Australia, not seen in Indomalayan specimens); antennae black, apex of first antennomere occasionally dark brown; legs and venter black, usually slightly bronzed.
Head: ratios (Tables 3 & 4): male: EG 7.50–10.00; IE 0.94–1.11; HG 17.00–20.80; HN 1.17–1.22; NE 1.70–1.79; female: EG 9.20–10.00; IE 1.00–1.04; HG 17.67–22.50; HN 1.19–1.24; NE 1.76–1.78; pubescence: a few minute hairs at posterior of orbit, longitudinal row of short setae at sides of frontoclypeal ridge, transverse row of longer setae behind clypeal anterior margin; transverse row between eye and buccal cavity; face impunctate except minute punctures at bases of setae; face microreticulate, often faintly so, postantennal calli usually smooth & non-reticulate; eyes large and laterally prominent; postantennal calli slightly elongate, with acutely triangular anterior angles and rounded bases; frontoclypeal median ridge lanceolate, weakly convex, anteriorly terminating in a narrow keel before clypeal margin; anterior clypeal margin slightly elevated and thickened but not finely ridged; sides of clypeus not rugose;
Thorax: pronotum relatively dull and microreticulate; pronotum almost impunctate, apart from glandular punctures,with scattered minute punctures on basal field; hypomeron and elytra smooth & shining, except extreme apex of elytra microreticulate; prosternum smooth and shining; scutellum triangular, microreticulate or shining and smooth; mesoventrite strigose and dull, remaining thoracic ventrites densely microsculputured and pubescent; elytra finely and densely irregularly punctured, interspaces mostly 1–1.5x puncture diameters; sides of elytra usually keeled from behind humeri to apical third, but keel may be faint or rarely absent; femora densely microsculptured and pubescent; outer face mid tibia with thin keel at base, flat in apical half; male first protarsomere ovate, slightly longer than broad, female 1.5x longer than wide;
Abdomen: abdominal ventrites densely microsculputured and pubescent; male: length penis 2.25–2.5mm; in dorsal view slightly expanded from base to near apex, then slightly contracted before almost truncate tip, with short right-angled median lobe; shallowly transversely ridged on middle of dorsal surface; fairly straight in profile, with tip slightly curved; with dense oblique ridges on most of venter, absent from midline, base and apex; ridges subtending approximately 90° at midline; two short apicoventral depressions present, c.0.2x penis length, elongate, laterally sharp-edged, internally finely strigose, separated by broad flat ridge; female: vaginal palpi long and almost conical, length: width ratio 2–3, with rounded apex, and straight or convex inner margin; palpal apodemes 1.2–1.3x length palpi, 0.15–0.3x width palpi; tignum with narrow acutely tipped base, short triangular lateral arms, and broad triangular or spatulate apex; spermathecal collum of variable length and thickness and containing 3–4 twists.
Distribution and biology. Altica caerulea is widespread in tropical Australia, from west Northern Territory (Daly River) to the east coast, then south to northern New South Wales (Byron Bay). It is mostly coastal in south and central Queensland but occurs far inland in the northern tropics. Outside Australia, Altica caerulea is widespread, from northeast India through the Philippines and Sunda Islands to New Guinea. Published records which are probably this species include Laos, Sri Lanka and Thailand (Scherer 1969).
Much of the Australian material of A. caerulea appears to have been collected by light trapping, and there are no host observations except the enigmatic “eating leaves of aquatic plants at edge of waterhole” (ANIC). Overseas, in Sumatra CAMR has collected A. caerulea on Ludwigia (as ‘yellow Epilobium’), and this is probably the host in Australia. Hawkeswood’s erroneous records of A. corrusca on Ludwigia in north Queensland (Hawkeswood 1988) may therefore represent A. caerulea and/or A. aenea (q.v.). The specimens collected on rice (Oryza) in the Northern Territory and Timor Leste (label data), do not record feeding. These specimens were swept, so the probable host Ludwigia, a common weed in rice padi, may have been present but overlooked. Records for A. caerulea on Rumex (Polygonaceae) and Impatiens (Balsaminaceae) in the Himalayas (e.g. Singh et al. 1986) refer to A. himalayensis (Chen, 1936) (Shah & Jyala 1998; Jyala 2002; Döberl 2010a). If A. caerulea only feeds on Ludwigia it is also a potential biocontrol agent of this weed.
In Australia, A. caerulea is similar to A. gravida, but the two species appear to be almost allopatric. Despite being widespread they have never been collected together and only old material has been recorded from the same general locality (‘Brisbane’). The two species have different hostplants but both hosts are restricted to wetlands and similarly widespread (Anonymous 2014), so in theory the two Altica species should co-occur. We suspect that the different distributions of Altica caerulea and A. gravida reflect the preference of the former for permanent wetlands and the latter for temporary wetlands.
In Australia, Altica caerulea has been collected in every month, with no clear collection peaks but with greater frequency in the dry season, from March to November. It is commonly collected at light.
Taxonomic notes. The species name of A. caerulea has been misspelled since Maulik (1926) and the species has been misidentified at least since the revision of Chinese species by Gressitt & Kimoto (1963). This is not surprising since Olivier’s description only refers to colour and the types have been considered lost. Altica caerulea was described from the East Indies, based on an unknown number of specimens (Olivier 1791). Part of the Olivier collection was sold to the Royal Scottish Museum, Edinburgh (now NMSE) in the early 19th century and Galeruca caerulea is listed amongst this material. Two syntypes are present. To clarify the identity of this species we nominate the dissected male as a lectotype of Altica caerulea. Although the penis of the lectotype is deformed at the base and apparently shortened (length 1.93mm: R. Lyszkowski, pers. com., May 2013), it shows clearly that this is the species hitherto treated under the name A. brevicosta (Gressitt & Kimoto 1963; Scherer 1969), quite different from A. caerulea sensu auctt., for example Scherer (1969), which is a mixture of A. birmanensis and A. cyanea. However, Kimoto (1972) and Döberl (2010a) correctly synonymised A. caerulea and A. brevicosta.
Altica elongata is an older name than A. brevicosta but has not been recognised since its description. This description, ironically accompanied by the remark that “earlier descriptions were inadequate for species recognition” (Jacoby 1884: 28), is itself inadequate for species recognition. Jacoby notes that A. elongata is probably the largest species of the genus, and mentions its colour, antennal segment ratio and some slight details of the body surface sculpture. Jacoby’s species was described from a remarkable (for the time) seven different localities in Sumatra, both lowland and highland, from the NW to SE of the island, suggesting a common widespread species. Our examination and dissection of Jacoby’s type material shows that this is a synonym of A. caerulea (= A. elongata, syn. nov.). Since species in this genus are difficult to recognise and the taxonomic decisions are subjective, we take the opportunity of fixing the identity of A. elongata by nominating a lectotype.
Altica brevicosta was also described from abundant material, with a wide distribution including south China, the Philippines and Java (Weise 1922a). Weise’s description is unusually detailed, with a clear description of the penis. This confirms the synonymy of A. brevicosta and A. caerulea by Kimoto, who examined Weise’s type material but not Olivier’s. An unpublished Weise manuscript name listed as a synonym of A. brevicosta by Biondi (1992) is not available.
Altica bicosta (Shukla, 1960) was described from northwest Indian material and later synonymised with A. brevicosta by Scherer (1969), who did not examine types. The original description is poor but the illustration of the dorsal view of the penis suggests that this may be a different species, not A. brevicosta (A. caerulea). We therefore remove A. bicosta from synonymy with A. brevicosta and A. caerulea and suggest it be treated as a valid species pending revision of the Indian fauna. Scherer’s treatment of A. brevicosta seems to involve more than one species therefore we omit his records from our map (Fig. 79).
One specimen listed in the material examined carries the label “ Oides cairnsensis Lea cotype” in Lea’s handwriting (MMS). This name has never been published and is unavailable. Lea probably realised his mistake but forgot to remove the type designation label.
description: Published as part of Reid, C. A. M. & Beatson, M., 2015, Disentangling a taxonomic nightmare: a revision of the Australian, Indomalayan and Pacific species of Altica Geoffroy, 1762 (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Galerucinae), pp. 503-551 in Zootaxa 3918 (4) on pages 530-535, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3918.4.3, http://zenodo.org/record/245277