Julodimorpha bakewelli
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Julodimorpha bakewelli |
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| ( White , 1859) |
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Julodimorpha bakewelli is an Australian species of beetle from the family of jewel beetles (Buprestidae). The behavior of some males whoattempt tomate with beer bottles is unusual. The type epithet honors the British entomologist Robert Bakewell (1810–1867), who amassed a large collection of Australian jewel beetles.
features
Julodimorpha bakewelli reaches a body length of 40 mm. The body is elongated and almost cylindrical. Seen from above, the head can hardly be seen. The pronotum is orange-brown and fairly broad at the base. The prosternum is short, narrow, and convex. The phalanges are flattened and the claws lobed at the base. The brown elytra are wider than the pronotum and have dense, longitudinally structured ribs. The females are larger than the males and unable to fly.
Distribution area and habitat
Julodimorpha bakewelli lives in the arid and semi-arid regions of Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia.
Way of life
The adult beetles are diurnal. Your food is purely vegetable. They lay their eggs on the roots and trunks of eucalyptus species . The larvae are root eater. Both the larvae and the adult beetles can be found on the flowers of the species Acacia calamifolia from the mimosa family .
Julodimorpha bakewelli and beer bottles
In 1980, the zoologist Athol M. Douglas noted behavior that had not previously been observed in Julodimorpha bakewelli . He photographed a male trying to copulate with a discarded brown beer bottle (known as a " stubby " in Australia ). In September 1981, Darryl Gwynne of the University of Toronto and David Rentz were able to study the same behavior in the Dongara region of Western Australia. On two occasions, a male was seen flying on a brown beer bottle and attempting copulation. In other beer bottles found, the beetles sat either on the side or at the top of the bottle. The beetles tried to introduce the aedeagus with their genitals turned up . Gwynne and Rentz conducted an experiment in which they distributed four bottles of beer on the floor. Within 30 minutes, two of the bottles were occupied by beetles. A total of six males were observed showing copulatory behavior. Once the beetles had settled on a bottle, they could only be removed by hand. In another bottle, a beetle was killed by ants of the species Iridomyrmex discors , which had bitten into its genitals.
The trigger for the males' unusual mating behavior is apparently the shape and color of the beer bottles. Since mating takes place on the ground, the beer bottles are mistaken for oversized females ready to mate. The shimmering brown color of the bottles is reminiscent of the yellowish brown coloration of the wing covers of the females. For example, a wine bottle with a different brown color was not accepted by the beetles. In addition, the rows of regularly arranged humps at the top and bottom of the bottles reflect the light in a similar way to the scars on the wing-coverts of the beetles.
Some scientists see this behavior as a threat to the species. On the one hand, the beetles become easy prey for ants, on the other hand, it can lead to the males ignoring the females.
In 2011 Gwynne and Rentz received the Ig Nobel Prize in Biology for their research .
literature
- Gwynne, DT & Rentz, DCF (1983): Beetles on the bottle: male buprestids mistake stubbies for females (Coleoptera). Journal of the Australian Entomological Society, 22: 79-80.
- Trevor J. Hawkeswood: Review of the biology and host-plants of the Australian jewel beetle Julodimorpha bakewelli
Web links
- The Atlas of Living Australia
- ORF: Sex with beer bottles
- BBC Planet One Video: Julodimorpha Bakewelli
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Gwynne, DT & Rentz, DCF (1983). Beetles on the bottle: male buprestids mistake stubbies for females (Coleoptera). Journal of the Australian Entomological Society, 22: 79-80.
- ↑ Donald D. Homan The Interface Theory of Perception: Natural Selection Drives True Perception To Swift Extinction
- ↑ Jonathan Amos - Science correspondent, BBC News Beetle's beer bottle sex wins Ig Nobel Prize