The Donaciinae are a subfamily of the leaf beetles, or Chrysomelidae, characterised by distinctly long antennae.[1][2] They are found in mainly the Northern Hemisphere, with some species found in the Southern Hemisphere.[3]
Life cycle
Female Donaciinae lay eggs between aquatic plant stems and leaf sheaths.[4] When larvae hatch they are aquatic, and attach themselves to underwater stems and roots of their plant hosts, primarily Potamogeton, for food and oxygen.[5] Adults live in vegetation bordering ponds, marshes, lakes,[1] and brackish water environments.[6] While most Donaciinae have the ability to fly, fully aquatic and flightless species such as Macroplea mutica exhibit the ability to disperse long distance by surviving the passage though the gut of water birds.[4]
Genera
These six genera belong to the subfamily Donaciinae:
Arnett, R.H. Jr.; Thomas, M. C.; Skelley, P. E.; Frank, J. H., eds. (2002). American Beetles, Volume II: Polyphaga: Scarabaeoidea through Curculionoidea. CRC Press. ISBN978-0849309540.
Clark, S.M.; Le Doux, D.G.; Riley, E.G.; Gilbert, A.J.; et al. (2004). Host Plants of Leaf Beetle Species Occurring in the United States and Canada. Coleopterists Society. ISBN9780972608732.
Evans, Arthur V.; Hogue, James N. (2006). Field Guide to Beetles of California. University of California Press. ISBN978-0520246577.
Lawrence, J.F.; Newton Jr., A.F. (1995). Pakaluk, James; Slipinski, Stanislaw Adam (eds.). Families and subfamilies of Coleoptera (with selected genera, notes, references and data on family-group names). Biology, Phylogeny, and Classification of Coleoptera: Papers Celebrating the 80th Birthday of Roy A. Crowson. Vol. 2. Muzeum i Instytut Zoologii PAN. pp. 779–1006. ISBN83-85192-34-4.
Riley, Edward G.; Clark, Shawn M.; Seeno, Terry N. (2003). Catalog of the leaf beetles of America north of Mexico (Coleoptera: Megalopodidae, Orsodacnidae and Chrysomelidae, excluding Bruchinae). Special Publication. The Coleopterists Society. ISBN0-9726087-1-0.