Natural history notes on Cyrtonota sericinus (Erichson, 1847) in Ecuador (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Cassidinae: Mesomphaliini)

The first natural history data is reported for the tortoise beetle, Cyrtonota serinus (Erichson, 1847) (Chrysomelidae: Cassidinae: Mesomphaliini). An Ipomoea sp. (Convolvulaceae) is recorded as the host plant. Larvae and adults feed on the leaves. Larvae retain an exuvio-fecal shield and are gregarious. Adults are sexually dimorphic and polymorphic in sizes and coloration.

European parasitoids of Lilioceris lilii (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)

The lily leaf beetle, Lilioceris lilii Scopoli, was first found in North America near Montreal, Canada, in 1943 (LeSage 1992). It was recovered in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1992 (Livingston 1996), and now occurs throughout all of the New England states and in the Canadian provinces of Quebec, Ontario, Nova Scotia, and Manitoba. It is a serious pest of native and cultivated lilies (Liliaceae) (Livingston 1996). This univoltine insect overwinters as an adult and after initiating feeding in the spring, oviposits in rows on the undersides of lily leaves. Larvae, which carry a fecal shield, pass through four instars before pupating in the soil. In North America, larval feeding often results in complete plant defoliation. Lilioceris lilii apparently originated in Asia (Berti and Rapilly 1976), and now exists throughout Eurasia from Siberia to Morocco and from the United Kingdom to China (Labeyrie 1963; Lu and Casagrande 1998). Based on its Eurasian distribution, L. lilii will likely increase its distribution in North America.