Crops > Ornamentals > Hibiscus > Carpophilus, Cook Is
Crops OrnamentalsHibiscus Carpophilus, Cook Is
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?Carpophilus, Hibiscus, Cook Is
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| June 2008. Beetles (2 mm) in hibiscus flowers which very obviously failed to unfurl. Up to 50 adult beetles were found in one flower. No larval stages or obvious feeding damage could be found. The beetles were not found on any other host. An identification was requested.
The beetles were recognised as sap beetles (Family: Nitidulidae), perhaps Carpophilus sp. from the dimidiatus/maculatus group of species. Another possibility is Haptoncus sp. It depends on the size.
Later, Cook Islands found a key for Nitidulidae in a book regarding stored product pests, and considered it likely that the beetle was C dimidiatus. So far there are three Carpophilus species recorded from the Cook Islands, C dimidiatus, C humeralis, and C maculatus.
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