Submitted to: Entomological News
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: July 10, 1997
Publication Date: N/A
Interpretive Summary: Longhorned woodboring beetles (Cerambycidae) include a wide array of economically and ecologically important species due to their wood feeding biology. Larvae of most species feed in living or recently dead trees, but the Parandrinae are an unusual group of Cerambycidae in that they develop in wood that is substantially decayed. Their role in the further decomposition of this resource is important in the soil nutrient cycle of forest ecosystems. No study has previously focussed on the behavior of this intriguing group of beetles. This paper presents the first observations of their behavior which can be used in future projects as part of a larger dataset to understand the characteristics which show relationships among woodboring beetles. This study will be useful to behavioral biologists, forest ecologists, soil scientists, and evolutionary biologists.
Technical Abstract:
The first observed behavioral interactions for a species of Parandrinae (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) are reported. Two sets of observations between males and females of Parandra glabra (DeGeer) were made under artificial conditions: 1) individual male/female interactions; 2) interactions of multiple males in the presence of each female. Results of individual interactions indicate consistent patterns of behavior including antennation, mandibulation, genitalic exsertion, mounting, and dorsal- oblique mating posture. Males display aggression in first encounters with females, but subsequent antennation leads to mounting and copulation attempts. When more than one male is present with a female, these behavioral categories are directed toward other males more frequently than to the female.
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