THE PUPATION CHAMBER OF DUNG BEETLES (COLEOPTERA: SCARABAEIDAE: SCARABAEINAE)

SÁNCHEZ, M:V; J.M KRAUSE; M. GONZÁLEZ; P. DINGHI & J.F. GENISE

COLEOPTERISTS BULLETIN

COLEOPTERISTS SOC

Año: 2010 vol. 64 p. 277 - 284

0010-065X

Third instars of the Scarabaeinae species Sulcophanaeus menelas (Laporte), Sulcophanaeus imperator (Chevrolat), Sulcophanaeus batesi (Harold) (all Phanaeini), Ontherus sulcator (F.) (Dichotomiini), and Malagoniella argentina (Gillet) (Canthonini) construct pupation chambers inside brood balls. Similar chambers are constructed by larvae of Anomiopsoides biloba (Burmeister) (Eucraniini) inside nests. The wall of these pupation chambers is a helicoid composed of whorls showing transverse rows of imbricate pellets. When this character is optimized on a simplified cladogram of Scarabaeinae, the helicoidal wall seems to be a synapomorphic character for the clade that includes Phanaeini, Eucraniini, Neotropical Canthonini, and some species of Dichotomiini. It may be predicted that species of other tribes belonging to this clade (Scarabaeini, Gymnopleurini, Eurysternini, and some Coprini) would construct similar pupation chamber walls. In addition, the presence of two other types of pellet arrangements in the pupation chamber wall in species of Liatongus Reitter (Oniticellini) and Heliocopris Hope (Dichotomiini), which are grouped in the other main clade of the subfamily, suggests that the behavior of arranging pellets in rows in the pupation chamber wall appeared in the node that defines Scarabaeinae. Key Words: helicoidal chamber wall, pellet arrangement, behavior, phylogenetic tree Pupation chambers are recorded for several species of Scarabaeidae belonging to different subfamilies. Larvae of Cetoniinae, such as Gymnetis MacLeay spp. (J. F. Genise, personal communication), Pachnoda peregrina Kolbe (Johnston et al. 1995), Cotinis semiopaca Moser (Bruch 1919), and Stephanucha thoracica Casey (Skelley 1991), construct pupation chambers using soil and/or fecal pellets. Larvae of some species of Melolonthinae, such as Sparrmannia flava Arrow (Scholtz 1988), and of Dynastinae, such as Dynastes hercules (L.) (Lachaume 1985), also make pupation chambers with soil material. Larvae of Aphodiinae and Geotrupinae also construct pupation chambers 277 The Coleopterists Bulletin, 64(3): 277–284. 2010.