Adaptation of flea beetles to Brassicaceae: host plant associations and geographic distribution of Latreille and Chevrolat (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae).

The cosmopolitan flea beetle genera and (Galerucinae, Alticini) are mainly associated with host plants in the family Brassicaceae and include economically important pests of crucifer crops. In this review, the host plant associations and geographical distributions of known species in these genera are summarised from the literature, and their proposed phylogenetic relationships to other Alticini analysed from published molecular phylogenetic studies of Galerucinae. Almost all species are specialised on Brassicaceae and related plant families in the order Brassicales, whereas species are associated with host plants in approximately 24 different plant families, and 50% are specialised to feed on Brassicaceae. The current knowledge on how and are adapted to the characteristic chemical defence in Brassicaceae is reviewed. Based on our findings we postulate that and colonised Brassicaceae independently from each other.