Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-gb8f7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T11:26:42.012Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

SELECTION FOR A NON-GENITALIC MATING STRUCTURE IN FEMALE TIGER BEETLES OF THE GENUS CICINDELA (COLEOPTERA: CICINDELIDAE)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 May 2012

Richard Freitag
Richard Freitag
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Ontario
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Females of species in Cicindela have a groove or pit in the mesepisternum which is concluded to be a mating structure, "coupling sulcus," that is held by the mandibles of the male. Six character states of the coupling sulcus are described, and may be useful for identification at the species and species group levels. Primitive (groove) and advanced (cavity) states of the coupling sulcus are derived by comparison with a classification of North and South American Cicindela based on the male genitalia. I suggest the following hypothesis: the female mating structure evolved in response to the highly agile behaviour of diurnal tiger beetles; the advanced cavity-like coupling sulcus is a result of population adjustments to long periods of hot conditions; and the non-agile, crepuscular, and nocturnal habits of primitive tiger beetles such as Amblycheila, Omus, and Megacephala have resulted in no selection for a female mesepisternum coupling sulcus.

Type
Articles
Information
The Canadian Entomologist , Volume 106 , Issue 6 , June 1974 , pp. 561 - 568
Copyright
Copyright © Entomological Society of Canada 1974

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ferris, C. D. 1969. Notes on collecting early Cicindela in eastern Wyoming. Cicindela 1(2): 9–13.Google Scholar
Goldsmith, W. M. 1916. Field notes on the distribution and life habits of the tiger beetles (Cicindelidae) of Indiana. Proc. Indiana Acad. Sci. 26: 447–455.Google Scholar
Graves, R. C. 1962. Predation on Cicindela by a dragonfly. Can. Ent. 94: 1231.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hlavac, T. F. 1967. Observations on behavior in Scarites (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Scaritini). Coleopts Bull. 21: 18–22.Google Scholar
Lavigne, R. J. 1972. Cicindelids as prey of robber flies (Diptera: Asilidae). Cicindela 4(1): 1–7.Google Scholar
Lengerken, H. von. 1916. Zur biologie von Cicindela maritima Latr. und Cicindela hybrida L. Dt. ent. Z. 60: 565–575.Google Scholar
Lesne, P. 1921. Le Cicindela silvicola Latr. sur les plateaux du Jura. C. r. Cong. Soc. Savantes Paris Depts., Sect. Sci. (1921): 102–109.Google Scholar
Mitchell, J. D. 1903. Observations on the habits of two Cicindelidae. Proc. ent. Soc. Wash. 5: 108–110.Google Scholar
Moore, R. 1906. Notes on the habits of Cicindela. Ent. News 17: 338–343.Google Scholar
Pratt, R. Y. 1939. The mandibles of Omus dejeani Reiche as secondary sexual organs. (Coleoptera: Cicindelidae). Pan-Pacif. Ent. 15: 95–96.Google Scholar
Rivalier, E. 1954. Démembrement du genre Cicindela Linné II. Faune americaine. Revue fr. Ent. 21: 249–268.Google Scholar
Schaller, G. B. 1972. The Serengeti lion. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London. 480 pp.Google Scholar
Shelford, V. E. 1908. Life histories and larval habits of the tiger beetles (Cicindelidae). J. Linn. Soc. Lond. 30: 157–184.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Willis, H. L. 1967. Bionomics and zoogeography of tiger beetles of saline habitats in the central United States (Coleoptera: Cicindelidae). Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull. 47(5): 145–313.Google Scholar
Willis, H. L. 1968. Artificial key to the species of Cicindela of North America north of Mexico (Coleoptera: Cicindelidae). J. Kans. ent. Soc. 41: 303–317.Google Scholar