Microhabitat use and seasonality of the sexually dimorphic West African centaurus beetle Augosoma centaurus

The sexually dimorphic dynastine centaurus beetle, genus Augosoma (Coleoptera: Scarabeidae), is endemic to tropical Africa where two species are found (A. centaurus and A. hippocrates). These beetles are consumed by rural populations, cause damage in plantations and are targets of insect collectors and traders. We present information on size differences and analyzed intersexual niche divergence and seasonality of A. centaurus in seven study sites in three West African countries (Ivory Coast, Togo and Nigeria). We recorded 711 light-attracted and/or opportunistically encountered individuals, as well as another 97 beetles in standardized transect surveys. In the latter, we found the adult sex ratio was equal, but was significantly skewed towards females in light-attracted and/or opportunistically encountered individuals. In a sample of 298 adult beetles, males were significantly larger than females, with almost no size overlap between sexes. Beetle activity was highly seasonal with most animals observed in November, active from 19:00 h to 24:00 h. Differences in habitat use were not significant between sexes, with most individuals observed in secondary forest. Males were found higher on vegetation than females and beetles of both sexes were found on Pandanus and raffia palms. Beetles were larger in sites with more vegetation cover, and there was a significant effect of tree species on body size of both sexes. Study area or country had no effect on any of the studied parameters. Our study confirms that transect surveys without light trapping can be an effective tool for understanding large-sized tropical beetles of similar ecological characteristics.     

金龟拟多头束霉Tilachlidiopsis scarabaei，一种稀有的束梗孢类虫生真菌

【目的】调查发现我国稀有但重要的虫生束梗孢类真菌。【方法】采用经典形态学及生态学特征对研究标本进行鉴定。【结果】在寄生鞘翅目昆虫的标本中,发现我国一拟多头束霉新记录种,金龟拟多头束霉Tilachlidiopsis scarabaei L.S.Olive,其形态特征为:寄主昆虫长约15 mm,宽4 mm。孢梗束下部深褐色,上部白色,长约36 mm,宽约1.8 mm,头状,可简单分枝。瓶梗锥形,少数棒状,顶端变细,长约19.4-25.9μm,宽1.1-2.2μm,在孢梗束的球状头部,呈栅栏状密集排列;在近头部的柄上瓶梗顶侧生于简单分枝的分生孢子梗上。分生孢子大多椭圆形,(2.2-3.2)μm×(1.1-2.2)μm;近柱形,(4.3-5.4)μm×(1.1-2.2)μm;少数球形,1.1-2.2μm。【结论】经文献检索和鉴定,金龟拟多头束霉为我国报道的新记录种。     

Dual structural color mechanisms in a scarab beetle

The cuticle of a Mycterophallus cetoniine scarab species displays both red iridescence due to a multilayer reflector mechanism and rainbow iridescence due to a superimposed diffraction grating mechanism. This is the first reported example of an animal possessing two independent classes of structural colors arising from interference at the wavelengths of visible light. In this work, the Mycterophallus cuticle is characterized by light microscopy, spectrophotometry, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. We compare the cuticle of the Mycterophallus species to two closely related Lomaptera scarab species, one with only a multilayer reflector and the second with only a diffraction grating. We calculate the correspondence between the nanostructural parameters and the optical properties of the Mycterophallus cuticle to determine the relative optical contributions of the two color mechanisms and the interactions between them. J. Morphol., 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.