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Project Noah Nature School
Monocesta ducalis
This Leaf Beetle (Family Chrysomelidae) lives only on the leaves of the Manzanita tree, a tree which is a native of the Valley of San Cristobal in areas just above the wetlands. The larva is plump with lateral projections and the same color of metallic blue-green as the adults. Both larvae and adults feed voraciously. Some years, the beetles are so numerous that the trees are denuded entirely of all their leaves. The adults chew the edges of the leaves and the larvae skeletonize the leaf surface. The 3 pictures of the larvae were taken on September 19, 2016. See also http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/274....
Manzanita Trees, Crataegus mexicana, in wooded area above the wetland "Maria Eugenia", San Cristobal de Las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico, 2,200 meters. (https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crataegus_...)
http://www.naturalista.mx/observations/3... http://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/272293-M... http://bios.conabio.gob.mx/especies/1005... https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monocesta
Thank you Emilie. I have pictures of the tree and the larva and will add them soon......have to find them.
Spotted on May 18, 2008
Submitted on Dec 12, 2012
