Spartocera batatas (Fabricius) was found for the first time in the USA in Homestead, Florida, in 1995. Records from Brazil, British Guiana, Colombia, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Grenada, Jamaica, Martinique, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, Saba, and Venezuela also are reported. The bug can be a

pest of sweet potato, Ipomoea batatas

Brambila, Julieta

Halbert, Susan E.

English

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135 INSECTA MUNDI, Vol. 19, No. 3, September, 2005IntroductionSpartocera batatas (Fabricius 1758) (Fig. 1)was found in Homestead, Florida, in late June 1995by Florida Department of Agriculture and Consum-er Services, Division of Plant Industry (DPI) in-spector Lynn D. Howerton. A large colony of theinsects was found on an Asian cultivar of sweetpotatoes (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.) in a residen-tial area. The plants were badly damaged by thebugs.  Spartocera batatas has not been reportedbefore in the USA except in a DPI circular (Halbert1996). Other than a single collection of nymphs inBroward County, Florida, S. batatas has been foundonly in Miami-Dade County.The Florida records are as follows: FSCA#E1995-2701, Homestead, 20 VI 1995, Lynn D. How-erton, on I. batatas (first USA record); FSCA#E1995-4344, Miami, 2 X 1995, Ramos A. Dones, nohost listed; FSCA# E1996-3660, Coconut Grove, 10IX 1996, Julieta Brambila, on a path in a hardwoodhammock; FSCA# E1996-3661, Coconut Grove, 13IX 1996, Julieta Brambila, found dead in a hard-wood hammock; FSCA# E1996, Coconut Grove, 24IX 1996, Julieta Brambila, on Ipomoea batatas;FSCA# E1997-1919, Homestead, 9 IV 1997, JulietaBrambila, on I. batatas; FSCA# E1997-1920, Home-stead, 19 IV 1997, Julieta Brambila, on I. batatas;FSCA# E1997-4501, Key Biscayne, XI 1997, RogerHammer, on Ipomoea alba L.; FSCA# E1999-1928;Homestead, 12 VII 1999, Edward T. Putland, onIpomoea microdactyla Griseb.; FSCA# E1999-2010,Homestead, 22 VII 1999, Edward T. Putland, on I.microdactyla; FSCA# E1999-2314, Homestead, 9VIII 1999, Julieta Brambila and Edward T. Put-land, on Ipomoea microdactyla;  FSCA# E2001-4558, Miami, 5 IV 2001, Paul Pratt, resting onMelaleuca quinquenervia (Cav.) S.T. Blake; FSCA#E2002-3743, Miami, 7 VIII 2002, resting on lawn,patio walls, lawn furniture and various plants.There is a single Broward County record (nymphsonly): FSCA# E2003-2939, SW Ranches, 27 VI 2003,Maria S. Quintanilla, on Bischofia javanica. Thislatter record is the northernmost recorded occur-rence of S. batatas.Spartocera batatas was described from Suri-nam under the name Lygaeus batatas. It is found inPuerto Rico, where it is considered a pest of sweetpotato (Jones 1915, Martorell 1976, Wolcott 1923).Records from Cuba may indicate a range expan-sion, and thus a fairly recent colonization of thatisland (Grillo 1988).In addition to the reports from Puerto Rico andCuba, we have seen specimens from the followingcountries: BRAZIL: 1 male, S. Cath., Corupa (Han-sa Humbolt), XI-1944, A. Maller (AMNH); 1 female,Para: Jacareacanga, I-1969, F. R. Barbosa (AMNH);1  male Amazonas, Uypiranga, Rio Negro, 14 kmfrom Manaus, 81 m [elev.], X-1941, August Rabaut(AMNH).  BRITISH GUIANA: 1 female Rio Esse-quibo (Source), J. Oglivia (AMNH). COLOMBIA: 1male Felipe Ovalle (AMNH). DOMINICA: 1 maleSalibia, 28-30-I-1968, Borys Malkin (AMNH). DO-MINICAN REPUBLIC: 1 female Pr. La Vega, LaCienaga de Manabao, Park. Headq., 3-5-VII-99,3000 ft. Elev., R. E. Woodruff. ECUADOR: 1 femalePastaza: Ashuara Village on rio Macuma, 10 km.from Rio Morona, 300m, 5-16-VII-1971, B . Malkin(AMNH); 1 male 1 female same except 11-16-VII-1971, (AMNH); 1 female Pastaza: Cuisimi, on RioCuisimi, 150km SE  Puyo, 350m. 15-31-V-1971, B.Malkin (AMNH). GRENADA: 8 male, 11 female StAndrews Parish, Cottage, 24-III-1990, J. Telesford,on sweet potato. JAMAICA: 1 male Port Antonio,Spartocera batatas (Fabricius) (Hemiptera: Coreidae),newly established in FloridaSusan E. Halbert and Julieta BrambilaFlorida State Collection of ArthropodsFlorida Department of Agriculture and Consumer ServicesP.O. Box 147100Gainesville, FL 32614-7100halbers@doacs.state.fl.usAbstract. Spartocera batatas (Fabricius) was found for the first time in the USA in Homestead, Florida, in1995. Records from Brazil, British Guiana, Colombia, Dominica,  Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Grenada,Jamaica, Martinique, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, Saba, and Venezuela also are reported. The bug can be apest of sweet potato, Ipomoea batatas.136 Volume 19, No. 3, September, 2005, INSECTA MUNDI17-II-1955, B. Heineman (AMNH). MARTINIQUE:1 male 5 km SE  MorneRouge, 15-V-1983, ForestRd. C.W. & L.B. O’Brien (O’Brien). PANAMA: 1male 1 female Chiriqui Pr., 1 km S. Los Planes, 900m., 8-IX-1998, Gillogly & Stockwell. PERU: 2 male,Upper Rio Tapiche, F-6040, H. Bassler (AMNH); 1male, Rio Santiago, 11-VII-1930, F-6139, H. Bassler(AMNH); 1 male Achinamiza, 16-IX-1927, F-6001,H. Bassler (AMNH); 1 male 1 female Achinamiza,19-IX-1927, H. Bassler (AMNH); 1 male Achinami-za, 20-IX-1927, H. Bassler (AMNH); 1 female, 2nymphs Loreto:  Headwater Rio Loreto-Yacu, YaguaIndian Vill., 21-IV-1-V-1970, B. Malkin (AMNH).PUERTO RICO: 1 female, Cabo Rojo, 22-VIII-1981,Stgo. Matos (FSCA); 1 male 1 female 1 nymph RioPiedras, Sabana Llana, batata follaje [sweet potatoleaves] 23-XI-1983, Luis Lago. SABA: 3 male 1female Windward side, 11-15-I-1968, Boris Malkin(AMNH); 1 male Mt. Scenery, 19-VII-91, H.V. &R.M. Baranowski. VENEZUELA: 1 male Caripito,29-VI-1942 (AMNH).There are specimens in the United States Na-tional Museum (USNM), verified by Dr. T.J. Henryfrom the following additional countries: ST. LU-CIA: 1  female Sta 200, 21-IV-1936, Chapin &Blackwelder. ST VINCENT: 1  female Sta/73 13-II-1936, Chapin & Blackwelder; 1  female Sta/178, 18-II-1936, Chapin & Blackwelder; 1  female Imp.Dept. Agric. West Indies, No. 295, Bot. Garden, 6-XII-1903, H.A.B.Spartocera batatas will key to genus (under theold name, Corecoris) in Baranowski and Slater(1986). A revised key to Florida Spartocera follows(key taken from Halbert 1996):1a. Antennae short, segments II and III subequal, IV1/3 shorter, antennal segment I scarcely longerthan the head; rare ......................diffusa (Say)1b. Antennae longer, segments II-IV subequal, an-tennal segment I distinctly longer than thehead ...................................................................22(1)a. Bright orange or yellow insect; pronotum with apair of black longitudinal lines; on Solanumamericanum ...........................fusca (Thunberg)2b. Uniformly dark brown insect; pronotum withoutmarkings; on Ipomoea and possibly a few otherplants .................................. batatas (Fabricius)The most important host of S. batatas appearsto be sweet potato, but it has been reported on a fewother plants, including tomato (Lycopersicon escu-lentum Mill., Solanaceae), eggplant (Solanum mel-ongena L., Solanaceae), potato (Solanum tuberos-um L., Solanaceae), black nightshade (Solanumnigrum L., Solanaceae), avocado (Persea america-na Mill., Lauraceae), and Citrus spp. (Rutaceae)(Grillo 1988, Martorell 1976, Alayo 1967, Barber1939, Wolcott 1923). Our observations in Floridaindicate that S. batatas adults sometimes dispersein high numbers and can be found on a wide varietyof plants. Many of the above host records may notrepresent breeding populations. In Florida, breed-ing records have been obtained from Ipomoea albaL. (moonvine) (FSCA# E1997-4501) and Ipomoeamicrodactyla Griseb. (a morning glory) (FSCA#E1999-2314) in Miami-Dade County.So far in Florida, in our experience, S. batatashas not become a pest of commercial sweet potatoes.Primarily, it is a nuisance in urban settings whenlarge numbers develop on sweet potato plants ormoonvine in home gardens, or in one case, a stu-dent science project.AcknowledgmentsWe thank Alberto Pantoja, University of Puer-to Rico, Mayagüez, for confirming our identifica-Figure 1. Spartocera batatas (Fabricius)137 INSECTA MUNDI, Vol. 19, No. 3, September, 2005tion of S. batatas, Rosa Franqui, University ofPuerto Rico, Rio Piedras, R.T. Schuh, AmericanMuseum of Natural History, New York, and C.W.and L.B. O’Brien for loaning specimens, T.J. Henryfor checking specimens at the USNM, and R.M.Baranowski and T.J. Henry for reviewing the manu-script.References citedAlayo, Pastor D. 1967. Los hemipteros cubanos dela familia Coreidae. Catalogo de la Fauna deCuba XXV. Los Hemipteros de Cuba VIII. Tra-bajos de Divulgacion No. 56 Museo “FelipePoey” de la Academia de Ciencias de Cuba.41pp.Barber, H.G. 1939. Scientific survey of Porto Ricoand the Virgin Islands. Volume 14, Part 3.Hemiptera-Heteroptera (excepting the Miri-dae and Corixidae). New York Academy ofSciences, New York, NY. 441pp.Baranowski, R.M. and J.A. Slater. 1986. Core-idae of Florida (Hemiptera: Heteroptera). Ar-thropods of Florida and Neighboring Land Ar-eas. Florida Department of Agriculture andConsumer Services, Gainesville, FL. Volume122. 82pp.Fabricius, J.C. 1798. Supplementum entomologi-ae systematicae. Hafniae: Proft et Storch pp.511-524.Grillo, R., H. 1988. Spartocera batatas (Fabricius)(Heteroptera: Coreidae) en Cuba. Centro Agri-cola 15: 87-88.Halbert, S.E. 1996.  Spartocera batatas (Fabri-cius) (Hemiptera: Coreidae), a new pest of sweetpotatoes and several other plants. Florida De-partment of Agriculture and Consumer Servic-es, Division of Plant Industry Entomology Cir-cular No. 379. 2pp.Jones, T.H. 1915. Insects affecting vegetable cropsin Porto Rico. Bulletin of the US Department ofAgriculture No. 192. 11 pp. + 4 plates.Martorell, L.F. 1976. Annotated food plant cata-log of the insects of Puerto Rico. University ofPuerto Rico, Department of Entomology, Agri-cultural Experiment station. 276 pp.Wolcott, G.N. 1923. “Insectae Portoricensis” Apreliminary annotated check-list of the insectsof Porto Rico, with descriptions of some newspecies. Journal of the Department of Agricul-ture of Porto Rico 7: 5-311.

Spartocera batatas (Fabricius) (Hemiptera: Coreidae) : newly established in Florida

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