Coleopteran Families Research Articles

Food Habits of Gray Bats in Kentucky

Foods eaten by gray bats ( Myotis grisescens ) were determined from fecal samples from bats netted along foraging routes on Jessamine Creek, Jessamine Co., Kentucky. Eleven families from nine orders of insects were eaten, with Coleoptera, Trichoptera, Diptera, and Lepidoptera occurring at the highest percent volumes. Three coleopteran families (Carabidae, Chrysomelidae, and Scarabaeidae) were common in the diet of gray bats. Ephemeropterans were not observed in fecal samples, despite their availability at foraging sites. Diet shifted across sampling periods. Data indicate that gray bats foraged both opportunistically and selectively at that site.

The independent evolution of the metafemoral spring in Coleoptera

Abstract. The metafemoral spring (jumping organ) was known previously only from all Alticinae (Chrysomelidae), one genus of Bruchidae, and two species of Rhynchaeninae (Curculionidae). Here this spring is reported from three subfamilies, seven tribes and twenty‐two genera of Curculionidae (three Rhychaeninae, one Erirhininae (Derelomini), and eighteen Ceutorhynchinae) and also from five genera of Buprestidae (four Agrilinae and one Trachyinae). Jumping in Hexapoda is discussed, specifically in the other jumping Coleopteran families that were examined for the presence of the spring (e.g. Melandryidae, Mordellidae, Scraptiidae, Eucinetidae, Limnichidae, Scirtidae and Anthribidae). The phylogenetic value of the metafemoral spring is still unclear; however, there are indications that it is useful in assessing relationships among weevil tribes. As in Alticinae, Curculionidae and Buprestidae have constant intra‐generic spring morphology and inter‐generic differences. The spring in Bruchidae, Curculionidae and Buprestidae has a simpler morphology than in the Alticinae, but still possesses the features necessary for jumping (metatibial extension). The metafemoral spring has apparently evolved independently in Alticinae, Bruchidae, Curculionidae and Buprestidae, and is an example of convergent evolution.

Insect parasitoids: an evolutionary overview

This paper reviews the biology of insect parasitoids and cleptoparasitoids and places them in an evolutionary context. Available biological data are reviewed and tabulated (at the family level) with an emphasis on non-hymenopteran parasitoids. Existing cladistic or near-cladistic treatments of the parasitoid groups are used to make outgroup comparisons, and pathways to and from the parasitoid lifeway are estimated. Approximately 10% of all described insect species are parasitoids or cleptoparasitoids. Of these about three-quarters are Hymenoptera, and one-quarter are either Diptera or Coleoptera. The parasitoid lifeway has arisen most commonly in the Diptera, where it has evolved independently in 21 families (probably over 100 times). It has arisen in 11 coleopteran families but probably only once in the Hymenoptera. In most cases host searching is by the adult female parasitoid but in a significant minority of cases host-searching is by the first instar larva of the parasitoid, or (more rarely) by the host ingesting the parasitoid’s egg. Dipteran parasitoids (as a whole) have a wider host range than hymenopteran or coleopteran parasitoids. The most common pathways to parasitoidism are from mycophagy, saprophagy and predation. In contrast, evolutionary shifts away from parasitoidism are relatively rare. Possible evolutionary explanations for these pathways are reviewed and others are suggested. A possible (evolutionary) explanation of the common evolutionary association of parasitoids with specialized egg predators is also discussed.

Peculiarities of the organization of egg chambers in carabid ground beetles and their phylogenetic implications

The ovaries of 31 species of the coleopteran family Carabidae have been studied by light and electron microscopy. Ovarioles of all the examined insects are of the polytrophic type. In the majority of the species a constant number of nurse cells per egg chamber has been observed. However, several species do not obey the 2 n rule and the number of nurse cells varies considerably even in the consecutive egg chambers of the same ovariole. In spite of the differences, the number of intercellular bridges connecting nurse cells to the oocyte is fixed and species specific. In Carabidae seven types of egg chambers have been characterized regarding the number of divisions, the number of nurse cells and the way the nurse cells are bridged to the oocyte. Some phylogenetic implications are considered.

The visual pigment chromophores in the retina of insect compound eyes, with special reference to the Coleoptera

A new survey, by HPLC, of the visual pigment chromophores in the compound eye of Japanese insects was made during the Summer and Autumn of 1988. The results largely conformed to those of previous studies (in Europe, Japan and the U.S.A.), except for the discovery of several coleopterans unusual in containing both retinal (A 1) and 3-hydroxyretinal (A 3). The chromophores of five coleopteran families are described for the first time: the Gyrinidae, Hydrophilidae and Lampyridae contain both A 1 and A 3: while in the Lucanidae and Melandryidae only A 1 was detected. Of the Family Cerambycidae (the only insect family so far discovered to contain members with different chromophore types), one of the two major subfamilies not previously investigated, the Lepturinae, yielded only A 1. Newly-tested species from the Prioninae conformed to earlier findings (A 1 only). Additional data (Vogt, previously unpublished) suggest that the Cantharidae, Cicindelidae, Dermestidae and Tenebrionidae also utilize only A 1. The distribution of A 1 and A 3 among the insects is discussed in terms of phylogeny, diet, and the photic environment. The coleopterans utilizing both A 1 and A 3 are widely separated, phylogenetically, but most are carnivorous and associated with an aquatic environment. The co-incidence of these features also in the Odonata, which generally utilize both A 1 and A 3, suggests that chromophore content in both groups may well be environmentally related. These findings are compared with the seasonal and environment-related occurrence of A 1 and A 2 (3-dehydroretinal) reported for fishes, amphibians and crustaceans. The data now accumulated for compound eye chromophore content of the Insecta are listed. Included are first mentions of the Dermaptera (the earwig Anisolabis maritima) and Megaloptera ( Sialis lutaria), which contain only A 1. Exceptions to the previously apparent, general phylogenetic trends are now known in the Orders Coleoptera, Diptera, Neuroptera and Odonata.

The Role of Ingested Fungal Enzymes in Cellulose Digestion in the Larvae of Cerambycid Beetles

Ingested fungal enzymes are responsible for cellulose digestion in the xylophagous larvae of four species ofcerambycid beetles from four different subfamilies: Bellamira scalaris (Lepturinae), Graphisurusfasciatus (Lamiinae), Orthosoma brunneum (Prioninae) and Parandra brunnea (Parandrinae). When the larvae are maintained on their normal diets of fungus-infected wood, their midgut fluids are active against microcrystalline cellulose, and they are able to digest $^{14}C-cellulose$. By contrast, when larvae are maintained on fungus-free, enzyme-free diets, their midgut fluids lack cellulolytic activity, and they are unable to digest labeled cellulose. We argue that ingested fungal enzymes may be responsible for cellulose digestion in many, perhaps even all, xylophagous larvae from the three coleopteran families Anobiidae, Buprestidae, and Cerambycidae.

Cysteine digestive proteinases in Coleoptera

1. 1. Proteinase activity from midguts of larvae and adult beetles representing several major coleopteran families was optimal at mildly acidic pH. 2. 2. In many beetles, thiol-reducing agents stimulated proteolysis of [ 3H]methemoglobin, while alkylating agents strongly inhibited it. 3. 3. E-64, a specific inhibitor of cysteine proteinases, was a potent inhibitor in most species. 4. 4. In larvae of red flour beetle ( Tribolium castaneum), Mexican bean beetle ( Epilachna varivestis), and cowpea weevil ( Callosobruchus maculatus), the pH of gut contents was in the range 5–7 and exhibited a negative (reducing) redox potential. 5. 5. These observations suggest that cysteine proteinases are commonly used as digestive enzymes in the Coleoptera.

BREEDING SYSTEM, POLLINATION, AND POLLINATOR LIMITATION IN A PERENNIAL HERB, AMIANTHIUM MUSCAETOXICUM (LILIACEAE)

Observations of insects on Amianthium muscaetoxicum suggested that at least 16 species can serve as pollinators, although the chief pollinators appear to be beetles. Five species from three coleopteran families appear to be the most important pollinators. Experimental manipulations suggest that Amianthium is nearly self‐incompatible and that fecundity and fruit set levels are at least partly pollinator limited. Outcrossed plants have higher fruit set and fertility levels than unmanipulated plants, and unmanipulated plants display higher levels than self‐pollinated plants. Self‐pollinated plants produce a few very small seeds, of which only a small percentage are viable. Fruit set levels in unmanipulated plants in one population were consistent over a 2‐yr period.

Biotic pollination mechanisms in the Australian flora — a review

Abstract Various aspects of pollination biology in Australia are examined and the relevant literature is reviewed in detail. The history of Australian pollination studies is briefly discussed and particular emphasis given to the contributions made by some of the more outstanding workers in this field. The enormous diversity of the pollen-vector fauna is documented and emphasis given to the adaptations of particular vector types and of the blossoms that they visit. The pollination role of the Australian invertebrate fauna is discussed and an assessment made of the proportion of anthophilous (i.e., flower-frequenting) taxa in various insect groups. Critical examination of recorded feeding habits of the Australian coleopteran and dipteran faunas reveals that at least 28 of the 121 coleopteran families (i.e., 23%) and 44 of the 87 dipteran families (i.e., 51%) contain anthophilous species. The Australian bee fauna, consisting of c. 3000 species, is exclusively anthophilous and constitutes the most important group of invertebrate pollinators; a comprehensive table listing those bee taxa that have been recorded visiting the blossoms of native plant genera, is provided. Two vertebrate pollination systems are important in the Australian context: ornithophily, involving flower-visiting birds as the pollen vectors, and therophily whereby flying or non-flying mammals act as the pollen transporters. Mammal pollination (therophily) is discussed at length, and several new terms introduced to describe the syndromes of marsupial (metatherophily), placental (eutherophily), and rodent (sminthophily) pollination respectively; comprehensive tables listing the anthophilous chiropteran and marsupial taxa of Australia are also provided. The role of various types of pollen vectors in promoting convergent and divergent floral evolution in the Australian flora is illustrated with examples from selected plant taxa. New information on the pollination biology of the tribe Boronieae (Rutaceae) is presented, and some of the more unusual floral adaptations noted. The review concludes by emphasising those areas where future research is needed and where broad co-operative studies would be most productive.