A review of the species of Eugaurax Malloch (Diptera: Chloropidae) occurring in North America, with the description of a new species mining leaves of floating marshpennywort (Araliaceae: Hydrocotyle ranunculoides L.f.)

Diptera
Chloropidae
  • Charles S. Eiseman

    276 Old Wendell Rd., Northfield, MA 01360 USA

  • Matthew A. Bertone

    Plant Disease and Insect Clinic, Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, North Carolina State University, Campus Box 7532, Raleigh, NC 27695 USA

  • Tracy S. Feldman

    5306 Pelham Road, Durham, NC 27713 USA

  • Nathan E. Harms

    US Army Engineer Research and Development Center, Aquatic Ecology and Invasive Species Branch, 201 E. Jones St., Lewisville, TX 75057 USA

Keywords: Leafminer, DNA barcoding, Sagittaria, arrowhead

Abstract

The species of Eugaurax Malloch (Diptera: Chloropidae) occurring in North America are reviewed, with DNA barcoding data provided for each. Larvae of E. floridensis Malloch mine in leaves and other tissues of arrowheads (Alismataceae: Sagittaria Ruppius ex L. spp.) throughout the eastern USA and southeastern Canada. The subspecies E. floridensis vittatus Sabrosky, new synonym, is no longer considered a distinct form. Previously confused with E. floridensis, E. hydrocotyles Eiseman, new species, is a leaf and stem miner of floating marshpennywort (Araliaceae: Hydrocotyle ranunculoides L.f.), and suspected of being a recentimmigrant from South America. The known distribution of the new species based on examined specimens is limited to the USA, from Florida to Texas north to North Carolina and Ohio, but leaf mines have been documented as far north as New Jersey (USA) and Ontario (Canada). Similar species of uncertain identity occurring in Mexico and South America are discussed. Eugaurax is now known from a total of 11 New World species, four of which belong to the E. quadrilineatus (Williston) complex, which requires further study to resolve species limits. This complex, which is easily distinguished from E. floridensis and E. hydrocotyles, is discussed briefly; it occurs in the southeastern USA (Florida to North Carolina and Louisiana) and Mexico, as well as in Central and South America and the Caribbean. Specimens of the E. quadrilineatus complex were apparently reared from eggplant (Solanaceae: Solanum melongena L.) in Florida nearly a century ago, but its larval biology and host range remain unknown.

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Publication

1152

Published

2025-10-24

How to cite

Eiseman CS, Bertone MA, Feldman TS, Harms NE. 2025. A review of the species of Eugaurax Malloch (Diptera: Chloropidae) occurring in North America, with the description of a new species mining leaves of floating marshpennywort (Araliaceae: Hydrocotyle ranunculoides L.f.). Insecta Mundi 1152: 1–26. https://doi.org/10.64338/im.1152.1o0ak