August 2007. Identifications are required on two species of Chrysomelid beetles from Solomon Islands. The first (orange with black markings) are feeding on sweet potato leaves. The second (gold, black and clear) was found on eggplant leaves.

There were several suggestions:

1. The second insect is similar to Deloyala guttata.

2. The first, the beetle with orange and black markings, closely resembles the genus Conchyloctenia, and the second – gold, black and clear markings – the genus Aspidiomorpha (either Aspidomorpha aurata or A australasiae). Both belong to the Chrysomelidae, subfamily Cassidinae. The first one was aid to be reported from Ethiopia 12 years’ ago in the southern and central parts of the country.

3. It was also suggested that the beetles with orange and black markings are members of the Laccoptera.

However, the following was received from the Australian Museum, Sydney:

The first is definitely Aspidomorpha deusta, which maybe a new record for Solomons Islands – but it’s widespread in tropical north & east Australia and New Guinea on Ipomoea. The second is either Aspidomorpha aurata or A australasiae. Both are recorded from that region. The key says: usually larger & stouter ….. aurata; usually smaller and slimmer ………… australasiae. So even with specimens to hand it would be difficult to distinguish the two. The writer, Borowiec, seems to believe that they are allopatric – aurata being widespread in Solomon Islands and australasiae as far east as Bougainville.

The keys are both by Borowiec; they are in Genus 1:1-51 (Cassida of Australasian region); Genus 3:121-184 (Aspidomorpha of Australasian region).

Conchyloctenia punctata is a South African species and looks completely different from the one illustrated from Solomon Islands (see http://www.museums.org.za/bio/insects/beetles/chrysomelidae/conchyloctenia_punctata.htm).

Links to pictures of tortoise beetles, mainly Aspidomorpha spp., commonly feed on Ipomoea carnea, a weed in Chhattisgarh, India, were presented.

http://www.celestine-india.com/pankajoudhia/po_gall5.htm
http://ecoport.org/ep?SearchType=pdb&PdbID=57478
http://ecoport.org/ep?SearchType=pdb&PdbID=50377

Both species were reported to be common on sweet potatoes in lowland Papua New Guinea.