Nisotra

Genus of beetles

Nisotra

Nisotra bicolorata, Australia
Scientific classification
Kingdom:  | Animalia
Phylum:  | Arthropoda
Class:  | Insecta
Order:  | Coleoptera
Suborder:  | Polyphaga
Infraorder:  | Cucujiformia
Family:  | Chrysomelidae
Subfamily:  | Galerucinae
Tribe:  | Alticini
Genus:  | Nisotra
Baly, 1864

Nisotra is a genus of flea beetles in the family Chrysomelidae. They are found in Africa, Asia, and Australia. There are around 90 described species in Nisotra, including about 70 in Sub-Saharan Africa and Madagascar. Many of these species are agricultural pests.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

## Description

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Nisotra can be recognised by: a thickset and distinctly convex body; the pronotum as wide of the elytra basally; the pronotum anterior margin with two longitudinal groove-like impressions, often deeply impressed and sometimes reaching middle of pronotum.[6]

## Diet

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Nisotra feed on plants in the families Malvaceae, Bombacaceae, Tiliaceae, Fabaceae, Rosaceae, Asteraceae, Lamiaceae, Rubiaceae, Poaceae and Orchidaceae.[7]

Larvae feed on roots (boring in stems has also been reported[8]), while adults feed on leaves.[9]

## Pests

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In the Solomon Islands, N. basselae is a pest on bele (Abelmoschus manihot). Its impact is so severe that bele is no longer grown in many places on the islands.[9]

Nisotra chrysomeloides is a pest on okra (Abelmoschus esculentus). Its abundance varies depending on temperature, relative humidity and rainfall.[10] Another okra pest is Nisotra sjostedti.[11]

## Species

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These species, among others, belong to the genus Nisotra:

* Nisotra apicalis Jacoby 1899
* Nisotra aruwimiana Weise
* Nisotra basselae (Bryant)
* Nisotra bicolorata Csiki, 1940
* Nisotra breweri Baly, 1877
* Nisotra brunnea Jacoby 1894
* Nisotra ceylonensis Jacoby 1899
* Nisotra chapuisi Jacoby 1876
* Nisotra chrysomeloides Jacoby 1885
* Nisotra dilecta (Dalman, 1823)
* Nisotra dohertyi Maulik, 1926
* Nisotra fulva (Medvedev, 2018)
* Nisotra gemella (Erichson, 1834)
* Nisotra goudoti Harold, 1875
* Nisotra insulana Medvedev, 2008
* Nisotra javana Motschulsky, 1866
* Nisotra javanica
* Nisotra klugii Jacoby 1892
* Nisotra lineella Weise, 1916
* Nisotra madagascariensis Jacoby 1901
* Nisotra madurensis Jacoby, 1896
* Nisotra malayana Medvedev, 2016
* Nisotra mera Weise, 1916
* Nisotra nigripennis Jacoby 1903
* Nisotra nigripes Jacoby 1894
* Nisotra obliterata Jacoby
* Nisotra oneili Jacoby 1906
* Nisotra orbiculata Motschulsky, 1866
* Nisotra pallida Jacoby, 1898
* Nisotra semicoerulea Jacoby 1903
* Nisotra sjostedti Jacoby 1903
* Nisotra sordida Weise, 1916
* Nisotra spadicea (Dalman, 1823)
* Nisotra striatipennis Jacoby
* Nisotra submetallica Blackburn, 1894
* Nisotra terminata Jacoby 1894
* Nisotra theobromae Laboissiere, 1920
* Nisotra uniformis Jacoby 1906
* Nisotra xinjiangana Zhang & Yang, 2007

## References

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1. ^ "Nisotra". GBIF. Retrieved 2021-12-17.
2. ^ Nadein, K. S. (2013). "Catalogue of Alticini genera of the World (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)". Zoological Institute, Saint-Petersburg. Retrieved 2019-07-02.
3. ^ "Nisotra sjostedti". CABI Invasive Species Compendium. Retrieved 2021-12-17.
4. ^ "Genus Nisotra". Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology, MCZBase. Retrieved 2021-12-17.
5. ^ "Nisotra". EPPO Global Database. Retrieved 2021-12-17.
6. ^ a b Biondi, Maurizio; D’Alessandro, Paola (2012). "Afrotropical flea beetle genera: a key to their identification, updated catalogue and biogeographical analysis (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae, Galerucinae, Alticini)". ZooKeys (253): 1–158\. Bibcode:2012ZooK..253....1B. doi:10.3897/zookeys.253.3414. PMC 3560840. PMID 23378812.
7. ^ "Nisotra Baly, 1864". www.zin.ru. Retrieved 2022-11-08.
8. ^ "Small Blue Leaf Beetle - Nisotra breweri". www.brisbaneinsects.com. Retrieved 2022-11-08.
9. ^ a b "Bele (Abelmoschus) flea beetle (022)". apps.lucidcentral.org. Retrieved 2022-11-08.
10. ^ Mani, J. K.; Pal, S. (2013). "Influence of weather factors on the abundance of flea beetle (Nisotra chrysomeloides Jacoby) infesting okra". Crop Research. 46: 208–211.
11. ^ Odewole, A F; Adebayo, T A; Dada, A O (2016). "Efficacy of Plant Based Insecticides in Control of Leaf Defoliators (Podagrica uniformis Jacoby and Nisotra sjostedti Jacoby (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) of Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L. Moench)". Journal of Northeast Agricultural University (English Edition). 23 (4): 1–7\. doi:10.1016/S1006-8104(17)30001-6.

## External links

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* Media related to Nisotra at Wikimedia Commons

Taxon identifiers

Nisotra|

* Wikidata: Q46791534
* Wikispecies: Nisotra
* AFD: Nisotra
* BioLib: 577283
* BOLD: 397863
* EPPO: 1NISOG
* GBIF: 4732773
* iNaturalist: 355502
* IRMNG: 1014211
* NCBI: 131675
* Open Tree of Life: 35268
* Plazi: 7E4E0D51-AFC9-ADCF-6F55-B5FD1270DA4E