Discovery of Palophaginae (Coleoptera: Megalopodidae) on Araucaria araucana in Chile and Argentina.

The subfamily Palophaginae (Megalopodidae) proposed in 1990 for two leaf-beetle genera of Australia has since been discovered in South America. Its presence in the Neotropical Region became known to the authors in late 1990 but all efforts to obtain adults in the field and lab had failed until April 1995 when the first adult emerged from rearing. The beetle is described below as Palophagoides vargasorum gen. et spec. nov. It is reported from the provinces of Malleco and Cautin in Chile and Neuquen in Argentina. In habitus, size and patterns it is remarkably similar to Palophagus bunyae of Queensland and biologically also alike by being associated with the same genus of tree, Araucaria araucana (pehuen or monkey-puzzle). Larvae develop in the male strobili (cones); they are already nearly full grown by the time the cones burst open and release the pollen. The mature larva drops to the ground and enters the soil to go through an additional, rather remarkable new instar or prepupal stage (hypermetamorphosis).