Dissemin is shutting down on January 1st, 2025

Links

Tools

Export citation

Search in Google Scholar

Captive observations on mating, stridulation and male genital brushes of the Australian flower chafer Phyllopodium palmatum (Schaum, 1848) (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Cetoniinae)

Journal article published in 2014 by Christian H. Moeseneder ORCID, Lyn G. Cook
This paper is available in a repository.
This paper is available in a repository.

Full text: Download

Question mark in circle
Preprint: policy unknown
Question mark in circle
Postprint: policy unknown
Question mark in circle
Published version: policy unknown

Abstract

Mating behaviour in the majority of Australian Schizorhinini, the continent's largest tribe of Cetoniinae, varies little among species and generally consists of opportunistic mating without, or with minimal, courtship on the flowers of trees and shrubs. This paper describes morphological features and courtship and mating behaviour observed in captivity prior to copulation in the atypical Schizorhinini species Phyllopodium palmatum (Schaum, 1848). Stridulation is produced metastemal-sternitaly, a method not described previously in Australian Cetoniinae, which was observed during courtship and in behaviour assumed to be defensive. Both sexes engaged in apparently stimulatory behaviour in courtship. The female was observed to bury into soil during mating, a behaviour possibly associated with avoiding predation. For the purpose of comparing Phyllopodium palmatum with other Australian cetoniines, we present generalized mating and stridulation behaviour observed for 23 Australian cetoniines. For males, we describe a pair of large genital brushes - a structure that has not been reported previously for Cetoniinae and that might be novel in Coleoptera as a whole. Modifications to the phallobase of several other Australian Schizorhinini are described.