Biodiversity Data Journal :
Taxonomic Paper
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Corresponding author:
Academic editor: Michael Kuhlmann
Received: 16 Dec 2015 | Accepted: 08 Jan 2016 | Published: 13 Jan 2016
© 2016 Paula Altesor, Andrés González, Stefan Schmidt
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation:
Altesor P, González A, Schmidt S (2016) First report of Tequus schrottkyi (Konow) (Hymenoptera: Pergidae) in Uruguay, and information about its host plant and biology. Biodiversity Data Journal 4: e7538. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.4.e7538
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The sawfly family Pergidae is best represented in South America, and it is the third largest family in the suborder Symphyta. Tequus is a Neotropical genus that has been reported in association with host plants of the genus Solanum (Solanaceae), with little information about the life history of its members. Tequus schrottkyi (Konow, 1906) was described from Paraguay, without any information about its biology and host plant.
We report the first record of T. schrottkyi from Uruguay, with information on its host plant and details of its biology. The identification was based on morphology, DNA barcode is provided to allow identification using molecular characters. This sawfly species is associated with Solanum commersonii, a native plant common in Uruguay. Tequus schrottkyi presents several generations between March and July. The larvae feed on leaves and spin a silk cocoon in the soil in which they pupate. The adults exhibit sexual dimorphism, the female being larger than the male and with a different color pattern. The eggs are laid individually in the leaf margins into the leaf tissue. The larvae are unpalatable to a generalist predator, possibly due to defensive compounds sequestered from their host plant, known to contain toxic compounds.
Tequus schrottkyi, sawfly, Pergidae, Symphyta, Solanum commersonii, potato
The sawfly family Pergidae is distributed in North and South America and Australasia, with the majority of species occurring in South America (
The genus Tequus occurs in the Neotropical region and includes 14 species that have been recorded from the following countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Nicaragua, Paraguay and Peru (
Here we report the first record of Tequus schrottkyi (Konow, 1906) from Uruguay, with information about its host plant and details about its biology. This species was originally described from Paraguay, but without any information about its host plant.
Tequus schrottkyi was found for the first time in a field experiment carried out in 2011 on the Experimental Station INIA - Las Brujas, Canelones, Uruguay (34°39’49.62"S; 56°20’23.23"W). This field plot experiment was carried out to compare the susceptibility of Solanum tuberosum and a native congener, S. commersonii, to insect herbivores. Tequus schrottkyi larvae were found almost exclusively feeding on leaves of S. commersonii (
Between 2013 and 2015, seasonal samples were taken of S. commersonii plants in INIA - Las Brujas to evaluate the presence of T. schrottkyi (Fig.
Acorduleceros Schrottkyi
Acordulecera schrottkyi:
Tequus schrottkyi:
Paraguay, Uruguay
In INIA - Las Brujas field station, T. schrottkyi larvae were only found feeding on S. commersonii in autumn and early winter between March and July. Solanum commersonii is a perennial plant that has its center of distribution in Uruguay, but also occurs in Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina (
Between March and July T. schrottkyi presents several generations. Field temperature range measured during the sampling months was of 25 ± 4 °C (average maximum in March) and 5 ± 4 °C (average minimum in June) (mean ± SD) (
Adults are sexually dimorphic, the female being larger than the male and with a different colour pattern. Compared to females, males have the thorax more extensively orange, and the abdomen black except more or less yellow orange laterally (in the female, the abdomen is orange except basally and apically more or less black) (Figs
Females lay the eggs individually in the leaf margin, into the leaf tissues as is typical of Symphyta (
Three Tequus species are known to feed on Solanum, i.e. Tequus munroi (Smith) in Bolivia (
Among sawflies, the sequestration of defensive secondary metabolites derived from their host plants has been reported especially in Tenthredinidae and Pergidae (
The authors acknowledge technical and logistic assistance by personnel of the National Institute for Agricultural Research (INIA, Uruguay). Financial aid and a doctorate fellowship were granted to PA by CSIC-UdelaR and CAP-UdelaR, respectively (Universidad de la República, Uruguay). The sequence analyses for this study were supported, in part, by Genome Canada through the Ontario Genomics Institute, while informatics support was provided through a grant from the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation.