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CHAPTER
THREE
The Beetles -
Yesterday & Today
Judging from their structure,
habits, and economy, there are reasons why beetles ought to excel
in every
other class of organized beings as exponents of
the past geography of the globe.
Andrew Murray (19th-century British Coleopterist)
- The Journal of the Linnean Society, 1870
By
virtue of their marvelously adapted morphology, beetles have clearly
demonstrated a propensity for colonizing new habitats and exploiting
under-utilized niches. Generally
speaking, niches are modes of food acquisition or preferred food sources.Habitats
are sites where these modes of food acquisition of take place.
The broader
the niche and habitat, the greater ability a beetle species has
to adapt to change and the greater chance for continued matings
to enhance genetic flow.
Employing
a staggering array of behaviors, some of which we present in this
chapter, beetles are ideally suited to meet the rigors of their
demanding and unforgiving environments.
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Goliathine
scrab beetles of the subfamily Cetoniinae, which are tropical
in their distribution, are often brilliantly colored. The males
are sometimes distinguised by elaborate armatures arising from
the head. This is Fornasinius russus from Central Africa. |
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At
least 60 families of beetles have species preserved in amber
or fossilized resin.
This specimen of a rhipiphorid beetle is from the
Dominican
Republic.
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The African
Goliath beetles were named after the giant vanquished by David in the
Old Testament. Adult beetles may be found feeding on sap exuding from
the wounds of certain trees.
This is
Goliathus meleagris from Congo.
In
the Santa Rita Mountains of southeastern Arizona, the ruteline scarab
Chrysina beyeri rests on foliage of its host plant, the oak.
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