Abstract
We carried out a quantitative assessment of the consumption of herbaceous plants by Opatrum sabulosum (Linnaeus, 1761) – a highly significant agricultural pest species. We researched the feeding preferences of this pest species with respect to 33 uncultivated and 22 cultivated plant species. This species of darkling beetle feeds on many uncultivated plant species, including those with hairy leaves and bitter milky sap, such as Scabiosa ucrainca (5.21 mg/specimen/24 hours), Euphorbia virgata (3.45), Solanum nigrum (3.32), Centauria scabiosa (2.47), Lamium album (2.41), Aristolochia clematitis (1.76), Chenopodium album (1.73), Arctium lappa (1.51), Asperula odorata (1.20). A high rate of leaf consumption is also characteristic for cultivated species, for example, Perilla nankinensis (5.05 mg/specimen/24 hours), Lycopersicon esculentum (3.75), Tropaeolum majus (3.29), Nicotiana tabacum (2.66), Rumex acetosa (1.96), Beta vulgaris (1.27). Opatrum sabulosum is capable of feeding on plants which are poisonous to cattle. This species of darkling beetle consumes 95.5% of the cultivated and 48.5% of the uncultivated herbaceous plants researched.
Highlights
For many species of phytophages and saprophages the consumption of leaves of herbaceous plants is the main aspect of their negative influence on natural ecosystems
The following questions are of considerable interest: (1) whether O. sabulosum eats the leaves of plants poisonous to cattle, (2) whether it eats green leaves of hairy plants, (3) whether the beetles prefer species from the natural flora or cultivated plants. In connection with these questions, the aim of this study is to establish in laboratory conditions the potential trophic relations of O. sabulosum with the leaves of herbaceous plants belonging to different taxonomic groups
For the other plant species the intensity of food consumption did not exceed 1 mg per specimen over 24 hours
Summary
For many species of phytophages and saprophages the consumption of leaves of herbaceous plants is the main aspect of their negative influence on natural ecosystems. Opatrum sabulosum (Linnaeus, 1761), a member of the Tenebrionidae family, is a pest species with a wide range of consumption preferences. This species has a wide distribution (Chernej 2005; Abdurahmanov and Nabozhenko 2011). It is numerous in the majority of steppe and meadow ecosystems, in pine forests and, most significantly, in agricultural ecosystems (Parmenter and Macmahon 1984; Minoranskij and Kuzina 1987). Its abilty to eat herbaceous plants from different families enables populations of this species to thrive in high and stable numbers over a long period of years in spite of all agro-technical measures directed against them (Kabanov and Sedin 1981; Leo et al 2011)
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