Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

A NEW METHOD FOR MARKING SCARABAEIDAE AND OTHER COLEOPTERA

1993; The Coleopterists Society; Volume: 47; Linguagem: Inglês

1938-4394

Lloyd Goldwasser, George E. Schatz, Helen J. Young,

Forest Insect Ecology and Management

We introduce a new method of marking a large number of beetles for individual identification in subsequent recaptures. Small triangular and square notches cut in particular positions of the elytra mark individuals permanently, and seem not to affect activity or longevity. This method requires only a pair of scissors, and it avoids the problems that confront paint-based methods in moist environments. RESUMEN Introducimos un metodo nuevo de marcar un nuimero grande de escarabajos para identificaci6n individual en recapturas subsecuentes. Pequeiias seinas triangulares y cuadradas cortadas en posiciones particulares de los elitros marcan a individuos permanentemente, y estas seiias parecen no afectar sus actividades y longevidad. Este metodo requiere solamente unas tijeras, y evita los problemas que afrontan metodos que usan pinturas en ambientes huimedos. Although marking large numbers of individuals uniquely is helpful or essential in many studies of insect population biology, finding a means of applying such marks often presents a challenge. For our studies of pollination by Scarabaeidae in the tropical wet forests of Costa Rica, we have devised a new method of identifying individual beetles. The method consists of cutting small notches into the lateral margins of the elytra. It allows us to mark large numbers of beetles rapidly in the field and circumvents problems associated with both the moist tropical forest environment and the behavior of Scarabaeidae. Our own work in Costa Rica, as well as that of several previous studies (Prance and Arias 1971; Beach 1982, 1984; Valerio 1984; Burquez et al. 1987), has begun to reveal the importance of dynastine scarabs as pollinators of a number of tropical plants in the families Annonaceae, Araceae, Arecaceae, Cyclanthaceae, and Nymphaeaceae. The scarabs, members of the genera Mimeoma, Erioscelis, and particularly Cyclocephala, range in size from 1.0 to 2.5 cm, and have moderately to heavily sclerotized elytra. The sexes of Cyclocephala are easily distinguished by enlarged tarsi on the forelegs of the males, and grooves in the edges of females' elytra into which the tarsi hook during mating. We encountered the beetles during daily censusing of flowers or inflorescences, removed them from the inflorescence, marked them, and returned them immediately to the same inflorescence. During the 1981, 1982, and 1983 field seasons, we marked more than 8,000 scarabs with this method.