The Cassidinae beetles of Longnan County (Jiangxi, China): overview and community composition

By

Liu, Peng
Liao, Chengqing
Xu, Jiasheng
Staines, Charles L.
Dai, Xiaohua

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2019-10-18

Original Publication

Biodiversity data journal

Volume

7

Pages

1--3

Subjects

Cassidinae , Cassidini , Hispini , host plant , Longnan County

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia Pensoft Publishers [2013]-

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.7.e39053
eLocator: e39053

 

Abstract

There are few reports on the community composition and diversity pattern of the Cassidinae species of China. Compared to the neighbouring provinces of Guangdong, Fujian and Zhejiang, the Cassidinae richness in Jiangxi Province is under-reported. Longnan City, a biodiversity hotspot in Jiangxi Province, was chosen to obtain the first overview of the Cassidinae beetles. The sample coverage curves for the three sample sites reached an asymptote which indicated sampling was sufficient for data analysis. A total of eight tribes, 16 genera, 59 species and 1590 individuals of Cassidinae beetles were collected. Most belonged to the tribe Hispini (1121 individuals; 70.5%), followed by the tribe Cassidini (161 individuals; 10.13%) and the tribe Oncocephalini (159 individuals; 10.0%). The remainder (149 individuals) belonged to five tribes (Gonophorini, Basiprionotini, Callispini, Notosacanthini and Aspidimorphini). The tribes Notosacanthini, Aspidimorphini and Oncocephalini were newly recorded for Jiangxi Province. There were 14 families, 27 genera and 39 species of host plants of Cassidinae beetles in Longnan County. Cassidinae larvae mainly feed on the plant families Poaceae, Rosaceae, Lamiaceae and Rubiaceae. Most host-plant associations are new reords for the beetle species. This research, together with our planned future work in China, may help to explain the geographical distribution, diversity patterns and host plant associations of these beetles.