Abstract:Microdera punctipennis Kasz (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) is a unique species that lives in the desert region of Central Asia and has adopted a nocturnal habit to survive the desert environment. Female adults are larger in size than male adults. The female/male ratio was 1.04:1. A rearing method using reused plastic bottles was used. The rearing conditions were 30 ± 0.5°C, 30 ± 6% relative humidity (RH), and 16:8 L:D photoperiod. Cabbage was provided as food. Cannibalism was avoided by rearing one larva in a bot… Show more
“…Insects were maintained at 30 ± 0.5°C, 30 ± 6% relative humidity (RH), and 16:8 (L:D) h photoperiod conditions and supplied with cabbage daily. Adult rearing, egg collection, larval rearing, and pupal collection were conducted following the methods of Wang et al. (2011) .…”
Section: Methodsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…The special eggshell, the population abundance, and the ease of rearing the species under laboratory conditions ( Wang et al. 2010 , 2011 ) make S. souvorowiana an excellent model for studying the adaptive mechanisms that enable beetles to live in the desert. Fig.…”
mentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Usually, sex can be determined by watching insects copulate ( Bailez et al. 2003 , Wang et al. 2011 ); however, the copulate sometimes is not a real couple of two sexes; male– male mountings can be found occasionally.…”
The darkling beetle, Sternoplax souvorowiana (Reitter) (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae), is flightless and lives in the Guerbantonggut desert in northwestern China. Its special eggshell structure, day-active habit, large body size, short life cycle, and ease of rearing under laboratory conditions make it an excellent model for advanced studies on desert adaptation. Determining the sex of this beetle is usually complicated by the lack of a discreet, externally visible gender-specific character. To date, dissection has been used for sex identification in this species, whereas a nondestructive means is needed for further studies of sexual dimorphism. Here, a new method based on the difference of the pigmentation pattern on the eighth tergite of each sex is described and illustrated. This method can be quickly learned, is nondestructive, is 100% accurate, and is fast enough for most applications in both the field and the laboratory. Experienced users in our laboratory routinely sex 8–10 beetles per minute.
“…Insects were maintained at 30 ± 0.5°C, 30 ± 6% relative humidity (RH), and 16:8 (L:D) h photoperiod conditions and supplied with cabbage daily. Adult rearing, egg collection, larval rearing, and pupal collection were conducted following the methods of Wang et al. (2011) .…”
Section: Methodsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…The special eggshell, the population abundance, and the ease of rearing the species under laboratory conditions ( Wang et al. 2010 , 2011 ) make S. souvorowiana an excellent model for studying the adaptive mechanisms that enable beetles to live in the desert. Fig.…”
mentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Usually, sex can be determined by watching insects copulate ( Bailez et al. 2003 , Wang et al. 2011 ); however, the copulate sometimes is not a real couple of two sexes; male– male mountings can be found occasionally.…”
The darkling beetle, Sternoplax souvorowiana (Reitter) (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae), is flightless and lives in the Guerbantonggut desert in northwestern China. Its special eggshell structure, day-active habit, large body size, short life cycle, and ease of rearing under laboratory conditions make it an excellent model for advanced studies on desert adaptation. Determining the sex of this beetle is usually complicated by the lack of a discreet, externally visible gender-specific character. To date, dissection has been used for sex identification in this species, whereas a nondestructive means is needed for further studies of sexual dimorphism. Here, a new method based on the difference of the pigmentation pattern on the eighth tergite of each sex is described and illustrated. This method can be quickly learned, is nondestructive, is 100% accurate, and is fast enough for most applications in both the field and the laboratory. Experienced users in our laboratory routinely sex 8–10 beetles per minute.
“…The insects were maintained at 30 ± 0.5 °C, 30 ± 6% RH, and a 16:8 L:D photoperiod. The adult rearing, egg collection, larval rearing, and pupal collection were conducted as previously described ( Wang et al 2011 ). The pupae and adults used in these experiments were obtained from both field collections and from colonies maintained under laboratory conditions.…”
The wax blooming beetles Colposcelis microderoides microderoides Reitter and Anatolica polita borealis Kaszab (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) are small, flightless beetles living in the Guerbantonggut desert in the northwestern region of China. These beetles were recently found to have wax blooms, and their short life cycle and ease of rearing under laboratory conditions make them excellent models for advanced studies on desert adaptation. To date, dissection has been used for sex identification in these species, whereas a nondestructive method is needed for further studies on sexual dimorphism. Microscopic examinations of pupae and adults revealed distinct differences between the sexes in the 8th abdominal sternites, including the presence of a setose cleft in adult males that is not visible in females, in which the 8th sternite forms a single semicircular plate. The female pupae have a pair of tan papillae and a tan genital orifice, which are absent on the male 8th sternite. These two sexual characteristics can be used to sex live adults and pupae. These methods are simple, nondestructive, 100% accurate, and useful for sex differentiation of dead beetles and some other tenebrionid species (including some pests) in both the field and the laboratory.
“…2010 ). The way this beetle adapts to the extremely dry and fluctuated temperatures includes night active, living in sands, and having subelytral cavity ( Wang et al. 2011 ).…”
Microdera punctipennis
Kaszab (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) is an endemic species in Guerbantonggut desert in China. To explore the ways that
M. punctipennis
egg adapts to dry desert environment, morphological characteristics of the egg was investigated along with the egg of the nondesert beetle
Tenebrio molitor
(Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae). Water loss rate and survival rate of these eggs under different dry treatments (relative humidity0, 10, and 20%) were measured to evaluate the desiccation resistance of the eggs at different developmental stages (day 0, 2, and 5 eggs). Our results showed that the 50-egg weight in
T. molitor
was heavier than
M. punctipennis
, while the 50-first-instar larva weight in
T. molitor
was almost the same as in
M. punctipennis
. The water loss rate of
M. punctipennis
egg under dry conditions was significantly lower than
T. molitor
, and the egg survival rate was significantly higher than
T. molitor
. The estimated developmental threshold temperature of
M. punctipennis
egg was 18.30°C, and the critical thermal maximum of
M. punctipennis
egg is above 39°C. These features partly account for the adaptability of
M. punctipennis
to desert environment in egg stage.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
