Egg laying preferences and larval performance inDermestes maculatus

Abstract

Dermestes maculatus DeGeer (Coleoptera: Dermestidae) is both a pest of dried stored products and, through its colonization of carrion, a forensically important species. However, little is known about the consequences of female oviposition site preferences on larval growth and development. To examine this, non‐virgin female beetles were offered a choice of food resources that had been aged to various extents to explore the adaptive nature of female oviposition preferences. Dermestes maculatus females consistently preferred to oviposit on muscle in contrast to either fat or bone marrow. Constraining larvae onto one of the three resource types confirmed that larvae grew faster and eclosed into larger adults when fed on muscle than when fed on either fat or bone marrow. In addition, the degree of sexual dimorphism was also related to food resource, with the greatest extent of size dimorphism (females larger than males) being evident on the preferred muscle resource. This conforms to the view that intraspecific variation in sexual size dimorphism is driven by intersexual differences in phenotypic plasticity, with females being able to reach greater size than males when conditions are good. The results indicate that D. maculatus female oviposition preferences are adaptive in that adult oviposition choice can enhance offspring fitness and so broadly conforms to the oviposition preference‐larval performance hypothesis as noted in a number of phytophagous insects.

Ultrastructure of antennal and posterior abdominal sensilla in Chlorophorus caragana females

“…The choice of oviposition site directly affects the development of the next generation of insects (Bovill et al, 2013;Fatouros et al, 2012;Liu et al, 2012;Masaki, 1986;Van Loon, 1996;Woodcock et al, 2013;Zhang et al, 2012). Female insects locate hosts by means of complicated behaviors in which sensilla play important sensing roles.…”

The exploitation of fresh remains by Dermestes maculatus De Geer (Coleoptera, Dermestidae) and their ability to cause a localised and prolonged increase in temperature above ambient

“…Female beetles oviposited directly into the skin particularly above the muscular parts of the body and less so on the feet or forelegs. This would accord with the observation that on stored products the females prefer to oviposit onto muscle rather than fat or bone marrow on which the larvae grow more slowly [21]. Direct oviposition into muscles of dried fish has also been described [22] although some workers state that the females oviposit underneath or near to the larval food source rather than upon it [6].…”

Oviposition of Dermestes maculatus DeGeer, the hide beetle, as affected by biological and environmental conditions

“…Other examples of products which D. maculatus can infest are leathers, bones and rawhides for domestic pet consumption (Fontenot et al, 2015). Although D. maculatus can infest a wide range of products, it is also an important beneficial insect which helps break down carrion (Richards and Goff, 1997;von Hoermann et al, 2012;Woodcock et al, 2013), can aid forensic entomologists in determining time of death (Richardson and Goff, 2001) and is used in for cleaning bones in taxidermy (Russell, 1947). Due to this insect's status both as a pest and as a beneficial insect, it is crucial to document as much information as possible regarding its biological characteristics.…”

“…Adults of D. maculatus are sexually dimorphic with females having a considerably larger size than males (Archer and Elgar, 1998). Adults live 4e6 months under laboratory conditions (McNamara et al, 2004) and females can oviposit throughout that time (Woodcock et al, 2013). Females are capable of beginning oviposition 12e24 h following their first mating McNamara et al, 2004) and males are capable of mating 10 d after adult eclosion (Jones et al, 2007).…”

“…Females are more likely to oviposit into materials with a high protein content which favors faster development of offspring (Woodcock et al, 2013). Virgin females are most likely attracted to food sources via male aggregation pheromone and food volatiles, where mated females are able to select oviposition sites in the absence of males (von Hoermann et al, 2012;Woodcock et al, 2013).…”