Seasonal reproductive strategies in some Panamanian beetles

Abstract

Thirteen species of Endomychidae (Coleoptera) were captured with a set of eight windowpane‐traps on Barro Colorado Island, Panama, during a period of three years. Their seasonal distribution, the development of their ovaries and testes, and their fat content was examined. With the possible exception of two species the data are consistent with the hypothesis of adult diapause for the latter part of the rainy season and the dry season, similar to that found for a related species Slenotarsus rotundus. It is suggested that the two aberrant species pass the adverse season in larval diapause.