Studies on the food kind of Lema scotellaris

Commellina communis L. is a persistent weed in dry land and orchards in Northern China. Lema scutellaris (Kraatz) has one generation per year andoverwinters as adult. This insect is a monophagous that feeds only on C. communis, not other plant species. As shown in our feeding tests, it refuses either the same of the closely-related plant families or genera. The occurrence of the insect is synchronic with the seedling stage of C. communis. Feeding of the larvae is coinciding with the richly branching feature of the plant. The nutritional location where the insect feeds on a highly correlated with the distribution of the muscous cells of the plant and the cells^ sugar contents.