Colonisation ability of the threatened tenebrionid beetle <i>Oplocephala haemorrhoidalis</i> and its common relative <i>Bolitophagus reticulatus</i>

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Abstract

<jats:p><jats:bold>Abstract.</jats:bold> 1. Life‐history traits associated with colonisation ability were compared in the threatened tenebrionid beetle <jats:italic>Oplocephala haemorrhoidalis</jats:italic> and its common relative <jats:italic>Bolitophagus reticulatus</jats:italic>. Both species feed and breed exclusively in fruiting bodies of the wood‐decaying fungus <jats:italic>Fomes fomentarius</jats:italic>.</jats:p><jats:p>2. The presence and status of flight wings, flight muscles, and mature eggs were determined by dissection. Flight willingness was studied in a field experiment, and flight duration in a flight‐mill experiment.</jats:p><jats:p>3. Females of <jats:italic>O. haemorrhoidalis</jats:italic> had fewer but larger eggs in their abdomen than <jats:italic>B. reticulatus</jats:italic> females.</jats:p><jats:p>4. All beetles of both species had fully developed flight wings but a larger proportion of <jats:italic>B. reticulatus</jats:italic> than <jats:italic>O. haemorrhoidalis</jats:italic> had developed flight muscles.</jats:p><jats:p>5. <jats:italic>Bolitophagus reticulatus</jats:italic> was more willing to take off than <jats:italic>O. haemorrhoidalis</jats:italic>, however both species, especially <jats:italic>O. haemorrhoidalis</jats:italic>, were powerful fliers, with many individuals being able to fly several kilometres. <jats:italic>Oplocephala haemorrhoidalis</jats:italic> tended to make few flights of long duration whereas <jats:italic>B. reticulatus</jats:italic> made several, but mostly shorter, flights.</jats:p><jats:p>6. The results indicate that <jats:italic>B. reticulatus</jats:italic> has a suite of life‐history traits that makes it better adapted than <jats:italic>O. haemorrhoidalis</jats:italic> to exploit the scattered trees with fruiting bodies present in managed forests. This may explain why <jats:italic>O. haemorrhoidalis</jats:italic> is restricted primarily to sites with a high density of suitable substrates that have been available continuously for a long time.</jats:p>

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