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Submitted June 4, 2019
Published 2019-01-30

Artículos

Vol. 8 No. 1 (2019): Centros: Revista Científica Universitaria

Folivory on Megalopus armatus Lacordaire, 1845 (Coleoptera: Megalopodidae) on Macrothelypteris torresiana (Gaudich.) Ching, in La Amistad International Park, Panama.


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Citación:
DOI: ND

Published: 2019-01-30

How to Cite

SANTOS MURGAS, A., & LEON CORREOSO, N. G. (2019). Folivory on Megalopus armatus Lacordaire, 1845 (Coleoptera: Megalopodidae) on Macrothelypteris torresiana (Gaudich.) Ching, in La Amistad International Park, Panama. Centros: Revista Científica Universitaria, 8(1), 115–126. Retrieved from https://revistas.up.ac.pa/index.php/centros/article/view/484

Abstract

The objective of this research is to present bio-ecological aspects of Megalopus armatus Lacordaire, 1845, in Panama, as they are: its local distribution and herbivory on the fern Macrothelypteris torresiana (Gaudich.) Ching, Field observations were made in the buffer zone of La Amistad International Park and the boundaries of the Baru Volcano National Park, at coordinates 17P 0313686 N and 0979913 W; at 1655 meters above sea level.  It was sampled along roads and trails for six consecutive days, from July 11 to 15, 2018; from 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., taking a route of approximately 20 km through the site where the fern Macrothelypteris torresiana (Gaudich.) Ching was distributed. As a result, we found a total of 4 specimens of M. armatus, feeding on fern M. torresiana, which consumed the fronds and rachis, cutting it with its jaws and ingesting only the medullar tissue. Approximately 65 lesions caused by M. armatus were found in 23 plants along the rachis of M. torresiana fronds. Four specimens of the beetle were also collected on three fern plants; these plants were in shadow area within the forest. We can conclude that the beetle M. armatus preferred to make folivory to the plants of fern M. torresiana that were located in the undergrowth and under shade, that on the plants that were under direct light and in open areas. The beetles preferred to herviborize the medullar tissue of the rachis, of each frond of the fern.

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