Area of Interest and Research

I am a systematist with specialization in chrysomelid leaf beetles. Chrysomelidae (∼40000 species) forms one of the largest radiations of animals, and they present many interesting research problems. The significant gap in knowledge of chrysomelid evolutionary relationships motivates my effort to collect the total data of individual species, develop character hypotheses that can be tested in phylogeny reconstruction, and help build strong classifications. My approach is holistic, with extensive fieldwork to explore life histories, ecology, behavior, and laboratory study of morphology and molecules.

Representative Publications

C.S. Chaboo. In Review. New records of Diamphidia Gerstaecker 1855 and Polyclada Chevrolat 1842 in the Republic of Mozambique (Chrysomelidae: Galerucinae s.l.). Coleopterists Bulletin.

Chaboo, C.S., E. Grobbelaar and H. Heron. Accepted. Life history and host records of the South African leaf miner, Oncocephala promontorii Péringuey 1898 (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Cassidinae: Oncocephalini). Coleopterists Bulletin.

Chaboo, C.S. In Press. Defensive behaviors in leaf beetles: from the unusual to the weird. In: Vivanco, J. and T. Weir (editors), Chemical Biology of the Tropics. Harvard Univerity Press, Cambridge.

Gustafson, G. and C.S. Chaboo. 2009. Ambulatory use of abdominal ampullae in larvae of Labidomera clivicollis (Kirby) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Chrysomelinae). Coleopterists Bulletin 63(3): 357–363.

Prathapan, K.D., C.S. Chaboo, and K. Karthikeyan. 2009. Natural history and leaf shelter constructions of the Asian rice leptispa beetle, Leptispa pygmaea Baly (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Cassidinae: Leptispini). Zoological Studies 48(5): 625–631.

Flowers, R.W. and C.S. Chaboo. 2009. Novel host records of some cassidine leaf beetles from Ecuador (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Cassidinae). Insecta Mundi 95: 1-8. Online at:
http://centerforsystematicentomology.org/insectamundi/0095FlowersandChaboo.
pdf or http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/insectamundi/619/

Chaboo, C.S., M.S. Engel, and M.L. Chamorro-Lacayo. 2009. Maternally-inherited architecture in Tertiary leaf beetles: Paleoichnology of cryptocephaline fecal cases in Dominican and Baltic amber. Naturissenschaften 96: 1121–1126. DOI: 10.1007/s00114-009-0573-2, 6 pp.

Rhodes, J. and C.S. Chaboo. 2009. Disonycha alternata (Illiger, 1807) on Coronilla varia (Linnaeus) Lassen (Fabaceae; crown vetch) in Kansas, USA (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Galerucinae). Coleopterists Bulletin 63(2): 232–234.

Chaboo, C.S. and M.S. Engel. 2009. Eocene tortoise beetles from the Green River Formation in Colorado, U.S.A. (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Cassidinae). Systematic Entomology 34: 202–209.

Chaboo, C.S. and M.-L. Jeng. 2008. Book review: Lee, C.-F. and H.-T. Cheng. 2007. The Chrysomelidae of Taiwan I [Sishou-Hills Insect Observation Network Press, 199 pp]. Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 81(3): 311–312.

Weber, D.C., P. Saska, and C.S. Chaboo. 2008. Carabid Beetles, Parasitoid. Pp. 35-37. In: J. Capinera (ed.), Encyclopedia of Entomology, 2nd edition. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, The Netherlands.

Grobbelaar, E. and C.S. Chaboo. 2008. New country record and first biological notes for Metriopepla inornata (Waterhouse) (Chrysomelidae: Cassidinae: Basiprionotini). African Entomology 16: 134–136.

Chaboo, C.S., C.G. Brown and D. Funk. 2008. Fecal case architecture in the gibbosus species group of Neochlamisus Karren (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Cryptocephalinae: Chlamisini. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 152: 315–351.

Chaboo, C.S., E. Grobbelaar, and A. Larsen. 2007. Fecal ecology in leaf beetles: novel records in the African arrow-poison beetles, Diamphidia Gerstaecker and Polyclada Chevrolat (Chrysomelidae: Galerucinae). Coleopterists Bulletin 61(2): 297–309.

Chaboo, C.S. 2007. Biology and phylogeny of the Cassidinae (tortoise and leaf-mining beetles) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 305: 250 pp, 9 tables, 5 appendices, 92 figures.

Chaboo, C.S. 2004. Natural history observations in Eurypepla calochroma Blake (Chrysomelidae: Cassidinae: Physonotini). Coleopterists Bulletin 58(1): 142–143.

Chaboo, C.S. and T. Nguyen. 2004. Immatures of Hemisphaerota palmarum (Boheman), with a discussion of the caudal process and shield architecture in the tribe Hemisphaerotini (Chrysomelidae: Cassidinae). pp. 171–184. In: Jolivet, P., J. Santiago-Blay and M. Schmitt (eds.), New Contributions in Biology of the Chrysomelidae. The Hague: Kugler Publications, 803 pp.

Chaboo, C.S. and L. Borowiec. 2003. Annotated checklist of tortoise beetles from Trinidad and Tobago (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Cassidinae). Coleopterists Bulletin 57(1): 71–78.

Chaboo, C.S. 2003. Tortoise beetles from Costa Rica: new records and localities (Coleoptera: Chysomelidae: Cassidinae). Genus 14(1): 109–120.

Chaboo, C.S. 2002a. First report of immatures, genitalia and maternal care in Eugenysa columbiana (Boheman) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Cassidinae: Eugenysini). Coleopterists Bulletin 56(1): 50–67.

Chaboo, C.S. 2002b. Range extensions of tortoise beetles (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Cassidinae). Proceedings of the Washington Entomological Society 104(3): 716–720.

Chaboo, C.S. 2001. Revision and phylogenetic analysis of the genus Acromis Chevrolat (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Cassidinae: Stolaini). Coleopterists Bulletin 55(1): 75–102.

Chaboo, C.S. 2000. Revision and phylogeny of the Caribbean genus Elytrogona (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Cassidinae: Stolaini). Coleopterists Bulletin 54(3): 379–394

Chaboo, C.S. 1990. The Vegetation of the Five Islands, Trinidad, W.I. Living World 10–11.

Chaboo, C.S. and Y.S. Baksh-Comeau. 1988. Natural History Museums in Trinidad and Tobago. Biospectrum 1: 5–7.