Abstract
Water streams in the temporary water beds after heavy showers in the extra-arid Mongolian Trans-Altai Gobi Desert kill many coleopterans especially those with the larvae feeding on and in roots in the soil or in the stem/root base. Another impact of the flooding of desert habitats is the development of fungal infections in the stem- or root-mining larvae and adults. In the areas with often draughts, soil-dwelling larvae of cleonines can remain inactive in the air-dry soil for at least 1.5 years and immediately pupate after rainfall which evidently has a function of the signal for completion of premature development. In the desert landscape with low diversity and population densities of insectivorous birds, reptiles, and mammals, rodents (jerboas) may be the main predators of the root-feeding beetle larvae, digging them out of the soil or taking them off the stem base.
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