Adetus croton

Type Locality: Texas: Hidalgo Co., Santa Ana NWR, 23.IV.2009, D. Heffern & B. Raber col. (TAMU). initially discovered in Texas by Edward Riley in 1987 while collecting Chrysomelidae on the shrub, Croton humilis L. (Euphorbiaceae), along Highway 4 near the Palmito Hill historical marker in Cameron County. Eventually, one specimen was reared from a stem of this plant by Brian Raber. All of the specimens collected in Southern Texas, we believe, were collected by beating or sweeping C. humilis , even though many labels do not indicate this. The known localities in Texas where this new species has been collected are all located in either the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Preserve (LRGVNWR), Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge (LANWR) or Santa Ana National Wildflife Preserve (SANWR). At SANWR, a small area of about 200 square meters with Croton humilis shrubs was located near the east entrance of the old, historic cemetery within the refuge. The plants were checked multiple times before individuals were found on one visit to the refuge. In the summer of 2010, this area was inundated by unprecedented flood waters for several months. The subsequent status of this population has not been determined. The localities in LRGVNWR and LANWR were unaffected by that flood. There are undoubtedly other locations for this species, however the remaining undeveloped land in Southern Texas is largely private property or protected federal property where permission to collect is required.