True Facts: Beetles That Took Things Too Far

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Credits:
Dr Patrice Bouchard, CNC
Gino Nearns
Alicia Hodson
Dr Shinji Sugiura, Kobe University
Dr Christina Painting, University of Waikato
Dr Jana Goyens, Research Foundation Flanders
Dr Kazuya Saito, University College London
Dr Jesus Rivera, Lawrence Livermore National Lab
Dr David Kisailus, UC Irvine
Dr Philipp Hönle, Biology Centre CAS
Dr Peter Aerts, UAntwerpen
Dr Noël Mal, RBINS
Larry Bezark, http://bezbycids.com/
Johan Vermeulen, https://www.youtube.com/@thenatureboxfilms
iNaturalist.org
iStock
Envato
Pond5

Citations

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Bouchard, Patrice & Smith, Andrew & Douglas, Hume & Gimmel, Matthew & Brunke, Adam & Kanda, Kojun. (2017). Biodiversity of Coleoptera: Science and Society. 10.1002/9781118945568.ch11.

Bouchard, Patrice ed. Le Tirant, Stéphane & Evans, Art & Bousquet, Yves & Carlton, Christopher & Chamorro, M. Lourdes & Lingafelter, Steven & Escalona, Hermes. The Book of Beetles: A Life-Size Guide to Six Hundred of Nature’s Gems. 2014. The University of Chicago Press.

De Marzo, L. (2010). A further evaluation of the sperm length in aleocharines (Coleoptera Staphylinidae). https://doi.org/10.4081/jear.2010.117

Di Giulio A, Muzzi M, Romani R. Functional anatomy of the explosive defensive system of bombardier beetles (Coleoptera, Carabidae, Brachininae). doi: 10.1016/j.asd.2015.08.013.

Faille A, Pluot-Sigwalt D. Convergent Reduction of Ovariole Number Associated with Subterranean Life in Beetles. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0131986.

Forbes, Wm. T. M. The Wing Folding Patterns of the Coleoptera. Journal of the New York Entomological Society, Vol. 34, No. 1 (Mar., 1926), pp. 42-68 (27 pages) https://www.jstor.org/stable/25004114

Gack, C., Peschke, K, ‘Shouldering’ exaggerated genitalia: a unique behavioural adaptation for the retraction of the elongate intromittant organ by the male rove beetle, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8312.2005.00432.x

Gack, C., Peschke, K. Spernathecal morphology, sperm transfer and a novel mechanism of sperm displacement in the rove beetle, Aleochara curtula (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae). (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00416861

Goyens, J., Dirckx, J. & Aerts, P. Stag Beetle Battle Behavior and its Associated Anatomical Adaptations. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10905-015-9495-3

Leung, B., Bijma, N., Baird, E. et al. Rules for the Leg Coordination of Dung Beetle Ball Rolling Behaviour. Sci Rep 10, 9278 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-66248-7

Painting, Christina. J. & Gregory I. Holwell, Flexible alternative mating tactics by New Zealand giraffe weevils, https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/aru140

Rivera, J., Hosseini, M.S., Restrepo, D. et al. Toughening mechanisms of the elytra of the diabolical ironclad beetle. Nature 586, 543–548 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2813-8

Saito K, Nomura S, Yamamoto S, Niiyama R, Okabe Y. Investigation of hindwing folding in ladybird beetles by artificial elytron transplantation and microcomputed tomography. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1620612114.

Saito K, Yamamoto S, Maruyama M, Okabe Y. Asymmetric hindwing foldings in rove beetles. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2014 Nov 18;111(46):16349-52. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1409468111.

Smolka J, Baird E, Byrne MJ, el Jundi B, Warrant EJ, Dacke M. Dung beetles use their dung ball as a mobile thermal refuge. Curr Biol. 2012 Oct 23;22(20):R863-4. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2012.08.057.

Sugiura S. Anti-predator defences of a bombardier beetle: is bombing essential for successful escape from frogs? PeerJ. 2018 Nov 30;6:e5942. doi: 10.7717/peerj.5942.

Sugiura, S. Active escape of prey from predator vent via the digestive tract, Current Biology, Volume 30, Issue 15, 2020, Pages R867-R868, ISSN 0960-9822, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2020.06.026.

Sugiura S, Hayashi M. Bombardiers and assassins: mimetic interactions between unequally defended insects. PeerJ. 2023 Jun 6;11:e15380. doi: 10.7717/peerj.15380.

Sugiura S, Sato T. Successful escape of bombardier beetles from predator digestive systems. Biol Lett. 2018 Feb;14(2):20170647. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2017.0647.

Trad, Bhrenno & Eriberto, Francisco & Faria, Luiz. (2024). Dancing close together in the woods: mate-guarding behavior might explain sexual dimorphism in Chrysoprasis auriventris . Revista Brasileira de Entomologia. 68. e20240025, 2024. 10.1590/1806-9665-RBENT-2024-0025.

Written by Ze Frank