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~696~
Journal of Entomology and Zoology Studies 2016; 4(5): 696-698
E-ISSN: 2320-7078
P-ISSN: 2349-6800
JEZS 2016; 4(5): 696-698
© 2016 JEZS
Received: 09-07-2016
Accepted: 10-08-2016
Álvaro Zúñiga-Reinoso
Laboratorio de Genética y
Evolución, Departamento de
Ciencias Ecológicas, Facultad de
Ciencias, Universidad de Chile,
Santiago, Chile
Franco Cruz-Jofré
Grupo de Ecología y Diversidad
Biológica, Facultad de Recursos
Naturales y Medicina
Veterinaria, Universidad Santo
Tomás, Viña del Mar, Chile.
Cristóbal Briceño
Departamento de Medicina
Preventiva Animal, Facultad de
Medicina Veterinaria,
Universidad de Chile, Santiago,
Chile.
Darío Moreira-Arce
Department of Biological
Sciences, University of Alberta,
Edmonton, AB, Canada
Correspondence
Álvaro Zúñiga-Reinoso
Laboratorio de Genética y
Evolución, Departamento de
Ciencias Ecológicas, Facultad de
Ciencias, Universidad de Chile,
Las Palmeras 3425 Ñuñoa
Santiago, Chile
Acanthinodera cumingii (Coleoptera:
Cerambycidae) in the diet of carnivores of the
Nahuelbuta Mountain Area, south-central Chile
Álvaro Zúñiga-Reinoso, Franco Cruz-Jofré, Cristóbal Briceño and Darío
Moreira-Arce
Abstract
Acanthinodera cumingii, is the largest long horned beetle of Chile that shows morphological and
behavioural differences between sexes. In this species female are diurnal, flightless and larger than
males. These features make the females to be consumed by four carnivores in south central Chile. The
results show a low frequency of consumption and only appear in 15% of feaces analyzed, and no
structure of the head and the prothorax were found, suggesting that predators have difficulty to consume
this species and before eating these structures need to be removed by the predators
Keywords: Mechanical defense, predatory behaviour, pronothum hook, Jaws, Feaces
1. Introduction
The “mother of the snake” (madre de la culebra: Acanthinodera cumingii Hope 1833), is an
endemic longhorned beetle of central Chile, distributed from the southern part of the region of
Coquimbo (31°30´S) to the north of the Araucanía Region (38°S)
[1, 2, 3]
. Adults of this species
are active from October to end of January
[4]
, and it is more common to the south of its
distribution
[5]
. Morphology and behaviour differs between females and males; while the
former are larger, mainly diurnal and flightless, males are nocturnal and flying
[2]
. These
features make the females of A. cumingii a potential prey easier to be consumed by predators.
However females are infrequently preyed by native predators. For instance, on the coast of the
Maule Region, the frequency of A. cumingii in the diet of kodkod (Leopardus guigna), culpeo
fox (Lycalopex culpeus) and gray fox (Lycalopex griseus) was scarce, representing < 30% of
the feaces analyzed
[6]
. Similarly, in Andean and coastal areas in the Araucania Region, no
consumption of this species was recorded by gray foxes
[7, 8]
. Low consumption or even the
absence of A. cumingii in predators' diets may be a consequence of seasonal shifts in the
availability of this species
[9]
or other factors such as physical defense of A. cumingii, which
may reduce its predation rate by natural predators. Nevertheless, these hypotheses have not
been previously considered. Consequently, the reports of consumption of Coleoptera by
carnivores in Central Chile are still scarce
[6, 9]
. In this study, we describe the presence of A.
cumingii in the diets of four carnivorous occurring in the Nahuelbuta Mountain Area (NMA),
and discuss the implications of these findings in the context of the physical defense of this
species against its natural predators.
2. Materials and methods
We collected a total of 70 feaces of kodkod, culpeo fox, Darwin's fox and gray fox species
during Austral summers of 2012 to 2014 covering an area of 10,000 ha in NMA (37°46´S;
72°59´W). Because the difficulties in identifying scats at species level by morphology and size
in an area where four canid species (including domestic dog) and a small felid are sympatric,
we distinguished scats through DNA analysis. DNA was isolated from each scat with a
QIAGENS tool Kit (QIAGEN, CA, USA), amplifying a fragment of the mitochondrial
cytochrome b gene, and comparing the resulting sequences to those of reference samples.
Analyses were done at the Primate Immunogenetics and Molecular Ecology (PRIME)
Laboratory, University of Cambridge, UK. Posterior to DNA identification, feaces were
measured, weighed and crumbled manually in order to separate material of A. cumingii.
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Journal of Entomology and Zoology Studies
3. Results and Discussion
The consumption of A. cumingii by carnivores in Nahuelbuta
National Park was low, being present only in 15.71% of
feaces analyzed (11/70). All specimens consumed were
females, which is consistent with that observed in other
studies
[6]
. In general, the presence of parts of A. cumingii for
each carnivore species analyzed was low; gray fox (14.28%),
culpeo fox (11.53%), Darwin's fox (28.57%) and kodkokd
(10%) (Fig.1). The studied carnivores showed differences in
the total number of individuals consumed, being the Darwin's
fox the top consumer of A. cumingii (n= 9), followed by
culpeo fox and gray fox (3 ind. each ), and kodkod (1 ind.)
(See supplementary appendix). The same pattern across
predator species was found for the individual of A.
cummingi/feaces ratio (Fig. 1).
Among the structures of A. cumingii found in the feaces (see
supplementary appendix for more details), neither structure of
the head nor the prothorax were observed (Fig. 2a). These
hard structures might easily resist the passage through the
digestive tract of predators. These results suggest that A.
cumingii is not an easy prey to consume, because its strong
jaws capable of cutting wood and a thorn in sickle shape on
both edges of the pronotum (see Fig 2b). Thus, these
structures might represent physical defense against predators,
whose shape makes it hard to swallow (i.e tracheal-
esophageal obstruction by the engagement of the structure). It
is presumed that the consumption of A. cumingii would then
be associated with an acquired skill of the predators, that
would discard the dangerous structures before consuming the
remainder of the individual. The risk of preying on females of
A. cumingii by predators can be compensated by the high
nutritional value of this insect, especially when females are
gravid (carrying 200 eggs of about 7 mm. length
[4]
) and by
their large body size
[1]
.
4. Acknowledgments
Franco Cruz-Jofré is grateful to scholarship CONICYT-
PCHA/doctorado nacional/2015-21150821. Dario Moreira
wrote this manuscript while Becas-Chile scholarship holder.
Dario Moreira thanks Forestal Arauco and Forestal Mininco.
Fig 1: Presence of Acanthinodera cumingii in feces of carnivores
present in the Nahuelbuta National Park. White bars: ratio of
individuals by feaces with A. cumingii. Gray bars: percentage of
feaces with A. cumingii.
Fig 2: Detail of Acanthinodera cumingii pieces. a) pieces of A.
cumingii most common found in the feaces of carnivores in this
study, together with the amount found, b) pieces of A. cumingii not
found.
5. References
1. Cerda M. Lista sistemática de los cerambícidos chilenos
(Coleoptera: Cerambycidae). Revista Chilena de
Entomología. 1987; 68:29-39.
2. Peña L. Introducción al estudio de los insectos de Chile.
Editorial Universitaria, Santiago, 1996.
3. Elgueta M, Cerda M. Acalodegma vidali, nueva especie
altoandina de Prioninae (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) de
Chile. Gayana. 2002; 66:11-21.
4. Artigas JN. Entomología Económica. Insectos de interés
agrícola y forestal médico y veterinaria. Ediciones
Universidad de Concepción, Concepción, 1994, 1126.
5. Porter C. Los Prioninae de Chile. Revista Chilena de
Historia Natural. 1980; 37:200-209.
6. Correa P, Roa A. Relaciones tróficas entre Oncifelis
guigna, Lycalopex culpaeus, Lycalopex griseus y Tyto
alba en un ambiente fragmentado de la zona central de
Chile. Mastozoología Neotropical. 2005; 12:57-60.
7. Rau J, Muñoz-Pedreros A, Martínez DR. Diversidad
trófica de aves rapaces y mamíferos carnívoros en la
Cordillera de la Costa. In Historia, Biodiversidad y
Ecología de los Bosques Costeros de Chile, Editorial
Universitaria, Santiago: Smith-Ramírez C, Armesto J,
Valdovinos C, Eds., 2005.
8. Zúñiga A, Muñoz-Pedreros A, Fierro A. Dieta de
Lycalopex griseus (Gray, 1837) (Mammalia: Canidae) en
la depresión intermedia del Sur de Chile. Gayana. 2008;
72:113-116.
9.
Jaksic F, Schlatter R, Yáñez J. Feeding ecology of central
foxes Dusicyon culpaeus and Dusicyon griseus. Journal
of Mammalogy. 1980; 61:254-260.
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Journal of Entomology and Zoology Studies
Supplementary appendix
S1. Data from feaces used in this study. N= specimens number of Acanthinodera cumingii consumed by individual carnivore, date = date of
fecal collection, carnivore= carnivore species assigned through the faaces, Alt = altitude above sea level at which the faaces samples was
collected, W = weight in grams of the feaces samples and pieces = A. cumingii pieces found in each of the feaces, along with the amount found.
N Date Carnivore Altitude (m a.s.l.) P Pieces
1 21.1.12 L. griseus 735 10 Female genitalia (1), femur (1)
1 22.1.12 L. griseus 735 3,2 Abdominal sternites (2)
1 22.1.12 L. griseus 735 3 Female genitalia (1), pieces with abdominal segments (4),
Metanotum with wing (1), trochanter (1).
1 22.1.12 L. culpaeus 735 3,5 Abdominal ventrites (one with visible female genitalia) (2)
1 22.1.12 L. guigna 735 3 Abdominal ventrites (3)
1 - L. culpaeus 988 3 Pieces with abdominal segments (4), femur-tibia (1)
1 16.1.14 L. culpaeus 784 12,4 Last abdominal ventrite (1), esternite (1),
piece of elytra and tibia(1)
3 16.1.14 L. fulvipes 805 5 pieces with abdominal segments (11), female genitalia with the last ventrite (3),
femora (3), trochanter (1), metasternum (1)
4 16.1.14 L. fulvipes 795 9 Pieces with abdominal segments (10), female genitalia with the last ventrite (4 ),
trochanter (1), coxa-femur (1), femora (2)
1 17.1.14 L. fulvipes 947 2 Metaepisternum (1), abdominal ventrite (1), femur (1)
1 17.1.14 L. fulvipes 959 4 abdominal ventrite (1), Trochanter (1)
