Choresine

Choresine
	Choresine advena
Systematics
Order :	Beetle (Coleoptera)
Subordination :	Polyphaga
Superfamily :	Cleroidea
Family :	Melyridae
Subfamily :	Elder beetle (Malachiinae)
Genre :	Choresine
Scientific name
	Choresine
	Pascoe , 1860

Choresine is a genus of beetles . They occur in New Guinea and the Moluccas . Some or all of the species contain the insecticide batrachotoxin in their hemolymph .

features

The kinds of the kind reach about 3 to 6.5 millimeters of body length. They can be distinguished from related genera on the basis of their body shape: the elytra are greatly expanded on the sides and much wider than the prothorax , which is abruptly narrowed at the base (the side facing the wing covers). As with all species of the Carphurini tribe , the first segment of the anterior tarsi in the male has a crest of black bristles. The elytres are somewhat shortened in both sexes and without attachments in the males. The elytra are colored blue or blue-violet with a metallic sheen, more rarely black with a blue metallic sheen. The head and pronotum can have the same color, but they are mostly yellow or yellow-orange. The contrasting color was interpreted as a possible warning color . As is typical of Malachiinae, the beetles have glandular, sometimes slightly protruding vesicles on the sides of the thorax and the first six abdominal segments, in which the poison is stored.

Almost nothing is known about the biology and way of life of the species. The animals are always found individually, not in groups or aggregates, either in bush or tree tops or in thatched roofs of huts.

distribution

Choresine species have been found on the Indonesian Moluccas Islands ( C. advena , C. buruensis and C. moluccana ) and on New Guinea ( C. magnioculata , C. neogressittiana , C. nigroviolacea , C. pulchra , C. reductorugata , C. rufiventris , C. rugiceps and C. semiopaca ) identified.

Toxicity

The poison batrachotoxin was scientifically described in the Colombian poison dart frogs of leaf climbers in the 1960s . In the 1990s it was found that the skin and feathers of the two-color pitohui ( Pitohui dichrous ) living in New Guinea also contain batrachotoxin. Also Pitohui ferrugineus and Black Pitohui ( Pitohui nigrescens ) and Blaukappenflöter ( Ifrita kowaldi ) from New Guinea carry the poison in their feathers. According to the results of the chemical analyzes, it seems obvious that the birds ingest the poison by eating the beetles.

The poison dart frogs of the genus Phyllobates , in which batrachotoxins were first detected, also sequester the venom from a component of their diet, as shown by the fact that frogs bred in captivity are not poisonous. The genus choresine , which does not live in South America, is out of the question as a source. The actual source of poison from the frogs is unknown.

The poison was detected in all four tested species of the genus Choresine : Choresine pulchra , Choresine semiopaca , Choresine rugiceps and an as yet undescribed species.

species

Choresine advena Pascoe, 1860
Choresine buruensis Champion, 1923
Choresine magnioculata Wittmer, 1973
Choresine moluccana Champion, 1923
Choresine neogressittiana Wittmer, 1973
Choresine nigroviolacea champion, 1923
Choresine pulchra (Pic, 1917)
Choresine reductorugata Wittmer, 1973
Choresine rufiventris Wittmer, 1973
Choresine rugiceps Wittmer, 1973
Choresine semiopaca Wittmer, 1973

literature

Walter Wittmer: To the knowledge of the Malachiidae (Col.) of New Guinea, New Britain, New Ireland and the Solomon Islands. In: Pacific Insects , Vol. 15, Nos. 3-4, December 20, 1973, pp. 298-352.
Olaf Fritsche: Life is electric. Physics for biologists and medical professionals. Springer Berlin Heidelberg 2013, pp. 43–65.

Individual evidence

^ Francis Polkinghorne Pascoe: Notices of new or little known genera and species of coleoptera - Part I. In: The Journal of Entomology 1860, pp. 49-50.

^ GO Poinar Jr, CJ Marshall, R. Buckley: One hundred million years of chemical warfare by insects. In: Journal of Chemical Ecology 33, No. 9, 2007, pp. 1663-1669, doi : 10.1007 / s10886-007-9343-9 .

↑ Malcolm Yeaman Marshall (1954): A Key to the World Genera of Malachiidae. Coleopterists Bulletin Vol. 8, No. 5/6: 69-82. online access via JSTOR

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j W. Wittmer: To the knowledge of the Malachiidae (Col.) of New Guinea, New Britain, New Ireland and the Solomon Islands. In: Pacific Insects , Vol. 15, Nos. 3-4, December 20, 1973, pp. 298-352.

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d John P. Dumbacher, Avit Wako, Scott R. Derrickson, Allan Samuelson, Thomas F. Spande, John W. Daly: Melyrid beetles (Choresine): A putative source for the batrachotoxin alkaloids found in poison-dart frogs and toxic passerine birds. In: PNAS 101, No. 45, 2004, pp. 15857–15860, doi : 10.1073 / pnas.0407197101 .

^ Francis P. Pascoe: Origin of image (Indonesia, Moluccas, Batchian), 1860.

^ ^A ^b W. Wittmer: Supplements to the catalog of the Malachiidae by J. Greiner (Pars 159 of the Coleopterorum Catalogus). In: Mittelungen der Münchner Entomologische Gesellschaft 31 (1941), pp. 1122–1127: p. 1123.

^ ^A ^b John Tidwell (2001): The intoxicating birds of New Guinea. ( Memento of the original from July 9, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF) In: ZooGoer. Vol. 30, No. 2, 2001. @1@ 2

[1] Francis Polkinghorne Pascoe: Notices of new or little known genera and species of coleoptera - Part I. In: The Journal of Entomology 1860, pp. 49-50.

[2] GO Poinar Jr, CJ Marshall, R. Buckley: One hundred million years of chemical warfare by insects. In: Journal of Chemical Ecology 33, No. 9, 2007, pp. 1663-1669, doi : 10.1007 / s10886-007-9343-9 .

[Marshall-3] Malcolm Yeaman Marshall (1954): A Key to the World Genera of Malachiidae. Coleopterists Bulletin Vol. 8, No. 5/6: 69-82. online access via JSTOR

[Wittmer-4] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j W. Wittmer: To the knowledge of the Malachiidae (Col.) of New Guinea, New Britain, New Ireland and the Solomon Islands. In: Pacific Insects , Vol. 15, Nos. 3-4, December 20, 1973, pp. 298-352.

[Dumbacher-5] John P. Dumbacher, Avit Wako, Scott R. Derrickson, Allan Samuelson, Thomas F. Spande, John W. Daly: Melyrid beetles (Choresine): A putative source for the batrachotoxin alkaloids found in poison-dart frogs and toxic passerine birds. In: PNAS 101, No. 45, 2004, pp. 15857–15860, doi : 10.1073 / pnas.0407197101 .

[6] Francis P. Pascoe: Origin of image (Indonesia, Moluccas, Batchian), 1860.

[W_Erg.-7] A ^b W. Wittmer: Supplements to the catalog of the Malachiidae by J. Greiner (Pars 159 of the Coleopterorum Catalogus). In: Mittelungen der Münchner Entomologische Gesellschaft 31 (1941), pp. 1122–1127: p. 1123.