Robberfall Beetle

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Robberfall Beetle
Bromius obscurus

Bromius obscurus

Systematics
Order : Beetle (Coleoptera)
Subordination : Polyphaga
Family : Leaf beetles (Chrysomelidae)
Subfamily : Eumolpinae
Genre : Bromius
Type : Robberfall Beetle
Scientific name of the  genus
Bromius
Chevrolat , 1836
Scientific name of the  species
Bromius obscurus
( Linnaeus , 1758)
View from above

Bromius obscurus , in viticulture vines cryptocephalinae sometimes called "writer" is a holarctic common type of beetle. Host species of the phytophagous ( herbivorous ) species are grapevines ( Vitis ) and evening primrose plants , especially willowherb ( Epilobium ).

features

Adults of the species reach a body length of five to six millimeters. The body is colored black, not shiny metallic, the wing covers can also be colored brown, it is white or yellowish short haired. The basal antennae are colored reddish. The pronotum is strongly arched without a lateral edge, the head tilted forward and hidden underneath and not visible when viewed precisely from above. The elytra are much wider than the pronotum and parallel sides, the front shoulders clearly protruding. The pronotum is densely punctured, and the elytra are also densely punctured from small, mixed with larger points, which are often in indicated rows. His front hips appear almost spherical; The thighs and rails of the legs are not thorned.

The species is unmistakable.

Variation and subspecies

According to the observations of some researchers, two forms can be distinguished in the species. According to them, the color variant with red-brown elytra tends to live on the grapevine , while the animals that live on fireweed always tend to have black elytra. According to some information, the shape with the red-brown elytra also differs in other morphological characteristics, for example the dots on the elytra should be more delicate and without wrinkles, the hairs should be more yellow than white. The shape with the red-brown elytra was considered a separate species for a long time and was called Eumolpus vitis . Some authors now consider them a subspecies subsp. villosulus closet (which strictly speaking does not correspond to the definition, because both occur sympatric and are more ecologically divorced). According to most taxonomists, it is a color variant or shape with no taxonomic value. At least in America, both color variants attack vines. However, it has not yet been conclusively clarified whether the differences apply. Accordingly, some taxonomists still recognize the subspecies to this day, while most do not consider it justified.

Occurrence

Its distribution area extends over almost the entire Holarctic . In the north it extends to northern Finland, western Siberia, the island of Sakhalin and Canada. The species is very rare in Great Britain , with one finding each in England and Scotland. In the south, the Mediterranean region and Turkey are reached.

In 2014 it became known that all Korean specimens of the species were incorrectly identified and in fact belong to the species Aoria rufotestacea . A review of the finds from the neighboring regions has not yet taken place.

Way of life

The beetle can be seen from May to October. Its common name is based on the fact that the leaf beetle drops from the leaf in danger and pretends to be dead. Both sexually separated and parthenogenic populations, without males, are known of the species. The parthenogenetic females are triploid .

Eggs are laid by female adults on the underside of the leaves or in crevices on the plant. After a few days, the larvae hatch and crawl into the ground. First smaller, then larger roots are eaten there. The wintering takes place in the ground. The larvae develop on the narrow-leaved willowherb, on evening primrose or on the roots of vines, the young shoots of which can be damaged as a result.

The beetle larva pupates in the following spring. The beetles appear from May. Adults of the viburnum beetle eat strip-shaped holes about one millimeter wide and ten to fifteen millimeters long in plant tissue. This can affect stems, leaves or even fruits of its host plants. Symbiotic types of bacteria in the intestine help digestion .

Economic importance

The species has received more attention as a pest in viticulture . Damage in Germany was never known to any relevant extent. In Austria today it is considered to be economically insignificant and “not worth fighting”. In California it used to be one of the most important pests of the viticulture in the San Joaquin Valley . It is also irrelevant here today. It is combated by flooding the crops in the spring so that the animals drown in the ground.

Taxonomy

The species was first described by Linnaeus as Chrysomela obscura (Linnaeus ascribing the name Fabricius ). The synonyms Eumolpus hirtus and Chrysomela vitis come from Fabricius . Today it is considered the only species of the, thus monotypical, genus Bromius . The taxonomy of this genus is somewhat unclear. The name was introduced by Louis Alexandre Auguste Chevrolat in the second catalog of the beetle collection published by Pierre François Marie Auguste Dejean . In the same year William Kirby established the subgenus Adoxus for the species in ignorance of it . For a long time, Kirby's name Adoxus obscurus was preferred for the species, today it is considered a synonym. The generic name Bromius was preserved by the ICZN (Opinion 2298, Case 3519). The name Adoxus obscurus can still be found frequently in the field of application, for example in the database of the European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization (EPPO).

The grapevine beetle is assigned to the tribe Bromiini Baly, 1865 in the subfamily Eumolpinae. The tribe formerly known as Adoxini has to be abandoned after a phylogenetic study has refuted its monophyly.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Rebenfall beetle at AGES Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety GmbH
  2. ↑ a b K.H. Mohr: Chrysomelidae. In Heinz Freude, Karl Wilhelm Harde, Gustav Adolf Lohse: The beetles of Central Europe. Volume 9. Goecke & Evers Verlag, Krefeld 1966.
  3. ↑ a b Karl Wilhelm Harde, František Severa: "The Kosmos Beetle Leader" The Central European Beetles. Franckh'sche Verlagshandlung W.Keller & Co Stuttgart 1988; ISBN 3-440-05862-X ; P. 290
  4. ↑ a b http://www.natur-in-nrw.de/HTML/Tiere/Insekten/Kaefer/Chrysomelidae/TK-955.html
  5. ↑ a b Larry J. Bettiga: Grape Pest Management. University of California. Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources Publication no.3343, 3rd edition 2013. ISBN 978-1-60107-800-1 limited preview at Google Books
  6. ↑ Károly Vig: On whose shoulders we stand - the pioneering entomological discoveries of Karoly Sajo. Zookeys 157: 159-179. doi: 10.3897 / zookeys.157.2044 (open access)
  7. ↑ Pierre Jolivet & Krishna K. Verma (2008): Eumolpinae - a widely distributed and much diversified subfamily of leaf beetles (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae). Terrestrial Arthropod Reviews 1: 3-37.
  8. ↑ A review of the scarce and threatened beetles of Great Britain: The leaf beetles and their allies Chrysomelidae, Megalopodidae and Orsodacnidae. Species Status No.19. Natural England Commissioned Report NECR161 download from Naturalengland.org
  9. ↑ Özdikmen, H., Mercan, N., Cihan, N., Kaya, G., Topcu, NN, Kavak, M. (2014): The importance of superfamily Chrysomeloidea for Turkish biodiversity (Coleoptera). Munis Entomology & Zoology 9 (1): 17-45.
  10. ↑ Seunglak An, Chang-Ki Hong, Seulki Kim, Seongkyun Lee, Soowon Cho (2014): Aoria rufotestacea Faimaire (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) long been confused as Bromius obscurus (Linnaeus) in Korea. Entomological Research 44: 80-85. doi: 10.1111 / 1748-5967.12052
  11. ↑ http://www.commanster.eu/commanster/Insects/Beetles/SpBeetles/Bromius.obscurus.html
  12. ↑ Juhani Lokki & Anssi Saura (1980): Genetic polymorphism and evolution in parthenogenetic animals. XI. Genetic differentiation in parthenogenetic populations. Hereditas 92: 275-282.
  13. ↑ http://www.insects.ch/php/mhsCms/index.php?action=showItemDetail&NEWS_ID=1655&NGR_ID=60
  14. ↑ Gregory Kölsch & Dimitra Synefiaridou (2012): Shared Ancestry of symbionts? Sagrinae and Donaciinae (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae) Harbor Similar Bacteria. Insects 3 (2): 473-491. doi: 10.3390 / insects3020473
  15. ↑ Yves Bousquet & Patrice Bouchard (2013): The genera in the second catalog (1833-1836) of Dejean's Coleoptera collection. ZooKeys 282: 1-219 doi: 10.3897 / zookeys.282.4401
  16. ^ William Kirby: The insects. Fauna boreali-americana, or the zoology of the northern parts of British America  : containing descriptions of the objects of natural history collected on the late northern land expeditions under command of Captain Sir John Franklin, RN, John Richardson, vol. 4. Fletcher, 1837. Limited preview on Google Books
  17. ^ Gustav Adolf Lohse & Wilhelm Lucht: The beetles of Central Europe. 3. Supplementary volume with catalog section. Goecke & Evers Verlag, Krefeld, 1994. ISBN 3-87263-045-8
  18. ↑ Adoxus obscurus in EPPO Global Database
  19. ↑ Patrice Bouchard, Yves Bousquet, Anthony E. Davies, Miguel A. Alonso-Zarazaga, John F. Lawrence, Chris HC Lyal, Alfred F. Newton, Chris AM Reid, Michael Schmitt, S. Adam Lipinski, Andrew BT Smith (2011 ): Family-group Names in Coleoptera (Insecta). Zookeys, Special Issue. 972 pp., To p.534.
  20. ↑ Jesús Gómez-Zurita, Pierre Jolivet, Alfried P. Vogler (2005): Molecular systematics of Eumolpinae and the relationships with Spilopyrinae (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 34: 584-600. doi: 10.1016 / j.ympev.2004.11.022

Web links

Commons : Robbery Beetle ( Bromius obscurus )  - Collection of images, videos and audio files