title: Morphology of juvenile stages of Kuschelina bergi (Harold) with biological information (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae, Alticini).
abstract: Kuschelina bergi (Harold, 1881) is being studied to be evaluated as a natural enemy of Phyla nodiflora var. minor (Hook.) N. O'Leary & Múlgura (Verbenaceae), an invasive weed in Australia. Eggs, and 1(st) and 3(rd) instar larvae are described and illustrated for the first time. The following characters distinguish Kuschelina bergi: presence of two medial setae in prosternum, mesosternum and metasternum, absence of tubercle on sternum I and eight setae in abdominal segment IX. The 3(rd) instar larvae of Kuschelina bergi resemble Kuschelina gibbitarsa (Say) larvae: the body shape and details of mouthparts are similar, but the morphology of the mandible is different, as is the tarsungulus which has a single seta. Differences between Kuschelina bergi and other known larvae of Oedionychina are discussed. New biological data based on laboratory rearing and field observation are also presented and discussed.
authors.affiliation: División Entomología, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo, La Plata, Paseo del Bosque s/n, 1900 La Plata, Argentina.
authors.forename: Nora
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Cabrera
authors.affiliation: Fundación para el Estudio de Especies Invasivas-FUEDEI, Bolivar 1559 (B1686EFA) Hurlingham, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Alejandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sosa
authors.affiliation: IFEVA, Facultad de Agronomía, Universidad de Buenos Aires, CONICET, Av San Martín 4453 (C1417DSE) Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Telesnicki
authors.affiliation: CSIRO Ecosystem Science & Biosecurity Flagship, GPO Box 2583, Brisbane, 4001, Australia.
authors.forename: Mic
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Julien
keywords: Alticini; Argentina; Galerucinae; Phyla; biological control; flea beetle