Interactive effects of pH and leaf litter on a shredder, the scirtid beetle, Helodes pulchella, inhabiting tree-holes

1. Scirtid beetles (Coleoptera: Scirtidae) are common inhabitants of water-filled treeholes and interact with other detritivores in a processing chain commensalism. The strength of the commensalism is determined by resource quantity and the organisms involved have different tolerances to low pH. To determine the effects and interactions of resource quantity and pH on one of these leaf-shredding scirtid beetles, Helodes pulchella (Guerin), leaf litter and pH were varied independently in experimental microcosms which mimic treehole habitats.
2. Helodes pulchella growth was affected by both resources and pH in two similar experiments conducted in different years. Scirtid larvae grew more slowly in low resource treatments and also grew more slowly in low pH treatments. Scirtid survival was not affected by pH, but was lower in high resource microcosms in the 1997 experiment. Consumption of leaf litter was much higher in high resource microcosms, even though not all leaf litter was consumed in low leaf litter treatments.
3. Thus, water chemistry and leaf litter quantity could have strong effects on resource availability through effects on these beetle facilitators, in turn affecting other insects living in these detritus-based communities.