Brachycoryna pumila Guerin-Meneville

Brachycoryna pumila Guérin-Méneville (Figs. 7, 41–43, 131) Reared specimens. NORTH CAROLINA: Scotland Co., Laurinburg, St. Andrews University, 21.vii.2015, em. by 1.viii.2015, T.S. Feldman, ex Sida rhombifolia, # CSE2121 (2 adults, MLBM); 7.vi.2016, em. by 13.vi.2016, T.S. Feldman, ex Sida rhombifolia, # CSE2580 (1 adult, ZFMK); 29.vi.2016, em. by 3–7.vii.2016, T.S. Feldman, ex Sida rhombifolia, # CSE2689 (5 adults, MLBM); TEXAS: Brooks Co., US-281 rest area, 27.094135, -98.146483, 30.iii.2021, em. 8–9.iv.2021, E. LoPresti, ex Sphaeralcea lindheimeri, # CSE6828 (2 adults, MLBM). Collected specimen. TEXAS: Brooks Co., US-281 rest area, 27.094135, -98.146483, 30.iii.2021, E. LoPresti, on Sphaeralcea lindheimeri, # CSE6811 (1 adult, MLBM). Hosts. Malvaceae: Malvastrum americanum (L.) Torr., M. coromandelianum (L.) Garcke, Sida rhombifolia L., S. spinosa L. (Staines 1986b), * Sphaeralcea lindheimeri A. Gray. Gillett et al. (1991) found larvae of Brachycoryna pumila or a closely related species mining leaves of Sida acuta Burm.f. in Mexico. Adults of B. pumila have been collected from Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench, Abutilon abutiloides (Jacq.) Garcke ex Hochr., A. pedunculare Kunth, Alcea rosea L., Allowissadula holosericea (Scheele) D.M.Bates, Gossypium hirsutum L., Malvastrum aurantiacum (Scheele) Walp., Sida cordifolia L., and Waltheria indica L. (Malvaceae) (Townsend 1902; Moldenke 1971; Staines 1986b; Clark et al. 2004). In Florida we have found leaf mines possibly referable to B. pumila on W. indica (BG 1624223). Biology. Apparently nothing has been published previously about the leaf mines or larvae of this species. Most leaves were in poor condition by the time the adults emerged and were not preserved. The two eggs we were able to locate were embedded singly in pits chewed in the upper leaf surface, at or near the leaf margin, in one case covered with blackish excrement (Fig. 7). Each photographed leaf mine appears likewise to have originated at or near the margin. The upper-surface to full-depth mines are small—approximately 0.5 cm 2 —and may be compact or rather elongate. They often cause the leaf to curl and crumple. As many as three separate mines have been found in a single leaf, each containing a larva or pupa. Frass is usually in the form of long, fine, threads attached to the ceiling of the mine, but sometimes conspicuous, dark lumps are also present (Figs. 41–43). Notes. North Carolina is a new state record for this beetle. The previous records from east of the Mississippi River are Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. Farther west, it occurs north to Utah, Oklahoma, and Missouri (Staines 2015). Our barcoded specimen is the sole representative of BIN BOLD: ADG5401.