Megaloxantha bicolor sub. mouhotiIn Biology, we had the amazing opportunity to meet with Bob Sober, who is a professional photographer and a hobby entomologist. He brought in beautiful beetle specimens, and we got the opportunity to observe and research a beetle of our choice! I chose to research Megaloxantha bicolor sub. mouhoti, which is an incredibly interesting species of beetle. Taxonomic Information Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Subphylum: Hexapoda Class: Insecta Order: Coleoptera Suborder: Polyphaga Superfamily: Buprestoidea Family: Buprestidae Genus: Megaloxantha Species: bicolor Subspecies: mouhoti
During the larval stage, jewel beetles bore into mainly dead or dying wood, although some species also bore into grasses and crops. Megaloxantha bicolor sub. mouhoti is a beetle that bores into wood. This has given jewel beetles another name, flathead borers, and they can cause agricultural and economic damage. Adult Buprestidae mainly eat flowers and plants. The lifecycles of Buprestidae beetles are all rather similar, and it takes around 1 year for one complete cycle. Adult beetles lay their eggs in the crevices of a trees bark. When the eggs hatch, the larvae bore into the tree, mainly targeting dead or dying wood. The larvae are ovalish and entirely white except for maybe a few pigmented spots. The cuticle, or covering, on the jaws of Buprestidae larvae can be equivalent in hardness and stiffness to stainless steel, which helps them bore through wood easily. When the beetles reach the adult stage, they leave the tree. Megaloxantha bicolor adults are medium to large sized beetles, reaching lengths up to 75mm, and, like all members of the Buprestidae family, they are able to fly. Their head seems small, as it is somewhat retracted into their thorax, and the eyes are widely spaced from each other on both sides of their head. They are black except for two orange spots on the side of their thorax and two white spots facing up near the back of their abdomen, and of course, they have a metallic sheen on their entire body. Fun Fact! The elytra, or the covering for the wings, of Buprestidae beetles are popular among collectors, and they are traditionally used in jewelry, decorations, and shrines in Pacific Island cultures. Sources: Sober, Bob. “Megaloxantha bicolor sub. mouhoti.” 2018. Photograph Bartlett, Troy. “Family Buprestidae - Metallic Wood-Boring Beetles.” BugGuide.Net, Iowa State University: Department of Entomology, 16 Feb. 2004, bugguide.net/node/view/162. Egge, Jacob. Jewel Beetles or Metallic Wood-Boring Beetles. www.plu.edu/biology/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2017/09/final_buprestidae_egge_20170914.pdf. Bellamy, Charles L. 1997. Buprestoidea. Version 01 January 1997 (under construction). http://tolweb.org/Buprestoidea/9082/1997.01.01 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/ Kolibac, Jiri. “Classification and Phylogeny of the Buprestoidea (Insecta: Coleoptera).” ResearchGate, Jan. 2000, www.researchgate.net/profile/Jiri_Kolibac/publication/274379176_Classification_and_phylogeny_of_the_Buprestoidea_Insecta_Coleoptera/links/551d226e0cf2000f8f938434/Classification-and-phylogeny-of-the-Buprestoidea-Insecta-Coleoptera.pdf. “Buprestidae: Jewel Beetles.” Encyclopedia of Life, Biodiversity Heritage Library, eol.org/pages/7473/details. “BUPRESTIDAE (Excluding Schizopodidae).” Wood Boring Beetle Families, 4 Feb. 2011, idtools.org/id/wbb/families/Wood_Boring_Beetle_Keys/Woodboring_Families/Media/Html/Fact_sheets/Buprestidae.html. “Jewel Beetle.” Australian Museum, NSW Government, 20 Aug. 2009, australianmuseum.net.au/jewel-beetle.
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