First Record of the Leaf Chafer Beetle Leucothyreus suturalis (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Rutelinae) Inhabiting Termite Nests, With Notes on Its Life History

Puker, Anderson; Ferreira, Fabiano de Andrade; Rosa, Cassiano Sousa; Jameson, Mary Liz; Vaz‐de‐Mello, Fernando Z.

doi:10.1093/aesa/sau004

Cited by 5 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Social parasites are, at first glance, less common in the termites (but see e.g. [24,25]). Young termites often require little brood care beyond the exchange of the gut microflora and already perform worker tasks [26].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Insect societies fight back: the evolution of defensive traits against social parasites

Grüter

Jongepier²,

Foitzik

2018

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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Insect societies face many social parasites that exploit their altruistic behaviours or their resources. Due to the fitness costs these social parasites incur, hosts have evolved various behavioural, chemical, architectural and morphological defence traits. Similar to bacteria infecting multicellular hosts, social parasites have to successfully go through several steps to exploit their hosts. Here, we review how social insects try to interrupt this sequence of events. They can avoid parasite contact by choosing to nest in parasite-free locales or evade attacks by adapting their colony structure. Once social parasites attack, hosts attempt to detect them, which can be facilitated by adjustments in colony odour. If social parasites enter the nest, hosts can either aggressively defend their colony or take their young and flee. Nest structures are often shaped to prevent social parasite invasion or to safeguard host resources. Finally, if social parasites successfully establish themselves in host nests, hosts can rebel by killing the parasite brood or by reproducing in the parasites' presence. Hosts of social parasites can therefore develop multiple traits, leading to the evolution of complex defence portfolios of co-dependent traits. Social parasites can respond to these multi-level defences with counter-adaptations, potentially leading to geographical mosaics of coevolution.This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue 'Evolution of pathogen and parasite avoidance behaviours'.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Insect societies fight back: the evolution of defensive traits against social parasites

Grüter

Jongepier²,

Foitzik

2018

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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“…The latter might be thought as a key innovation in ant evolution, which might have driven the origin of myrmecophily within Cryptocephalines searching for food and shelter in ant nest. In this regard, we hypothesize that the nature of food items available inside the termite nest, as well as the effectiveness of the termite defense mechanisms (Puker et al 2015, and references therein) might explain the absence of termitophily in Chrysomelidae, a relationship which has in fact been exploited by other lineages of Coleoptera as Elateridae, Passalidae, Melyridae, Scarabaeidae, Tenebrionidae, and Carabidae (Costa and Vanin 2010). …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Leaf beetles are ant-nest beetles: the curious life of the juvenile stages of case-bearers (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae, Cryptocephalinae)

Agraín¹,

Buffington²,

Chaboo³

et al. 2015

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Although some species of Cryptocephalinae (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) have been documented with ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) for almost 200 years, information on this association is fragmentary. This contribution synthesizes extant literature and analysizes the data for biological patterns. Myrmecophily is more common in the tribe Clytrini than in Cryptocephalini, but not documented for Fulcidacini or the closely-related Lamprosomatinae. Myrmecophilous cryptocephalines (34 species in 14 genera) primarily live among formicine and myrmecines ants as hosts. These two ant lineages are putative sister-groups, with their root-node dated to between 77–90 mya. In the New World tropics, the relatively recent radiation of ants from moist forests to more xeric ecosystems might have propelled the association of cryptocephalines and ant nests. Literature records suggest that the defensive behavioral profile or chemical profile (or both) of these ants has been exploited by cryptocephalines. Another pattern appears to be that specialized natural enemies, especially parasitoid Hymenoptera, exploit cryptocephaline beetles inside the ant nests. With the extant data at hand, based on the minimum age of a fossil larva dated to 45 mya, we can infer that the origin of cryptocephaline myrmecophily could have arisen within the Upper Cretaceous or later. It remains unknown how many times myrmecophily has appeared, or how old is the behavior. This uncertainty is compounded by incongruent hypotheses about the origins of Chrysomelidae and angiosperm-associated lineages of cryptocephalines. Living with ants offers multiple advantages that might have aided the colonization of xeric environments by some cryptocephaline species.

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“…The sexes were identified based on leg color pattern and tarsomere shape. 14,20 The feeding assay was conducted in an environmental room at 26 ± 2 °C and 60 ± 10% relative humidity, under a natural light:dark cycle (12 h:12 h). Individual insects were housed in plastic containers with a wire mesh fitted lid for ventilation and filled with a 2-cm soil layer as a daytime shelter for the beetles.…”

Section: Sex-specific Feeding Rate Of Adult L Femoratusmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…12,13 The genus Leucothyreus within the Scarabaeidae family comprises several species that are considered polyphagous pests in the Neotropics, affecting crops such as oil palm, eucalyptus, cassava, coffee, coyol, and grasses. 11,12,[14][15][16] Leucothyreus spp. has been reported in Central and South America, including countries such as Brazil, Mexico, Uruguay, Argentina, and Colombia, where they cause damage to roots and severe defoliation in some crops.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Beetles belonging to the Scarabaeidae family are generally nocturnal folivorous insects 11 that pose a threat to various crops 12,13 . The genus Leucothyreus within the Scarabaeidae family comprises several species that are considered polyphagous pests in the Neotropics, affecting crops such as oil palm, eucalyptus, cassava, coffee, coyol, and grasses 11,12,14–16 . Leucothyreus spp.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A scarab beetle (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) causes tree mortality, delayed growth, and yield reduction in cacao with genotype‐specific susceptibility to herbivory

Porcel,

Miranda,

Pisco‐Ortiz

et al. 2024

Pest Management Science

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BackgroundThis study explored the impact of Leucothyreus femoratus, a previously unreported folivorous pest in cacao cultivation, on cacao tree survival, development, and yield. The study was conducted in an experimental cacao plot in the colombian plains, it featured twenty cacao genotypes in an agroforestry system, with plantain and mexican sunflower providing temporary shade, and yopo offering permanent shade.ResultsWe found an infestation rate of 2.9 ± 0.3 adult beetles per cacao tree. L. femoratus larvae were discovered in association with the roots of all plants within the agroforestry arrangement; however, Yopo and plantain exhibited the highest incidence of root‐feeding larvae among these associated plants. Interestingly, male and female L. femoratus displayed distinct leaf consumption patterns in the lab, with females consuming more foliage relative to their body weight. Moreover, field observations highlighted the detrimental impact of L. femoratus herbivory on cacao tree survival and growth, leading to leaf skeletonization, reduced plant height, and stem diameter. Trees with over 50% leaf consumption suffered more than 20% mortality. Additionally, herbivory negatively affected cacao yield, correlating higher leaf surface damage with a decrease in harvested pods. The study also identified varying antixenotic resistance in different cacao genotypes, with some consistently displaying resistance while others showed variable levels during tree establishment and production stages.ConclusionThis research underscores the significant role of L. femoratus as a cacao pest, emphasizing its adverse effects on cacao tree survival, development, and yield. Consequently, implementing effective control measures is vital for ensuring sustainable cacao cultivation.This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

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First Record of the Leaf Chafer Beetle Leucothyreus suturalis (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Rutelinae) Inhabiting Termite Nests, With Notes on Its Life History

Cited by 5 publications

References 29 publications

Insect societies fight back: the evolution of defensive traits against social parasites

Insect societies fight back: the evolution of defensive traits against social parasites

Leaf beetles are ant-nest beetles: the curious life of the juvenile stages of case-bearers (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae, Cryptocephalinae)

A scarab beetle (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) causes tree mortality, delayed growth, and yield reduction in cacao with genotype‐specific susceptibility to herbivory

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