Julodimorpha bakewelli (Latin) is a species of beetles from the family of goldfish ( Buprestidae ). The specific name is given in honor of the British entomologist Robert Backwell ( Robert Bakewell , 1810–1867), who collected a large collection of Australian golden beetles [1] . The beetle received wide popularity after entomologists , who discovered the strange sexual behavior of males, 30 years later received the Ig Nobel Prize for their discovery [2] .
| Julodimorpha bakewelli |
 |
| Scientific classification |
|---|
| No rank : | Bilateral symmetric |
| Hoard : | Insects with full transformation |
| Suborder : | Polyphagous beetles |
| Infrastructure : | Elateriform |
| View: | Julodimorpha bakewelli |
|
| International Scientific Name |
|---|
Julodimorpha bakewelli (White, 1859) |
| Synonyms |
|---|
- Stignodera bakewellii White , 1859
|
|
Content
The largest member of the family in Australia [3] , reaching lengths of up to 40 mm. Females are larger than males. The covers of the body are firm and durable. Elytra in thick, large punctures forming wrinkled structures. Pronotum dark brown or orangish brown, rather broad at base. Elytra brownish orange, wider pronotum. Body elongated, elytra narrowed at the end. Antennae short, serrate. The head is small, vertical, with mouthparts facing downwards. The complex eyes are highly developed, occupy a significant part of the head and are in a somewhat more lateral position, which is an adaptation to living in desert areas and the associated excess of light [4] . The species was first described in 1859 by the Scottish zoologist Adam White (1817–1879) under the original name Stignodera bakewellii White, 1859 [5] .
Beetles are found in August and September. Males are active and often fly. Females do not fly and spend all the time on the ground [6] . Beetles are often caught eating Acacia calamifolia flowers [7] .
Eggs, larva and pupa are not described [8] . Larvae develop in the wood of the roots and trunks of various types of eucalyptus ( Myrtaceae ) [8] [9] .
The gray-bearded kestrel , a species of birds of prey of the falcon genus, can feed on beetles [8] .
Endemic of Australia . It inhabits the arid and semi-arid regions of Queensland , New South Wales , South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia [8] .
Australian 375 ml bottle type
stubbie Scientists have observed attempts by males of this species to copulate with 370 ml beer bottles , called “ stubbie ” [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] . In this case, the males show a special zeal, ignoring the real females. Often, as a result of such vain attempts to copulate, the male beetles die from the heat or the ants attacking them. These observations confirm the prediction of the sexual theory of choice that males of species with low fecundity are not selective relative to females in the process of mating.
This behavior was first discovered in the early 1980s by Australians Daryl Gwynn and David Rents. They walked along the roadside in Dongara (Western Australia) and saw several empty beer bottles thrown out with beetles of this species sitting on them. At the site, they conducted an experiment in which 4 bottles of "stubbie" were put on the ground. Half an hour later, 2 bottles have already attracted beetles. A picture was observed when the beetle was attacked by ants of the Iridomyrmex discors , but did not react to this and continued to try to copulate with the bottle [15] . Scientists have found that beetles are attracted to beer bottles of a certain color and glass texture - with special pimples (rows of small tubercles around the base of the bottle), which resemble the texture of a female's elytra. Also the color of the bottle resembles the coloring of the beetles themselves. Subsequently, in the fall of 2011, these scientists were awarded the Nobel Prize for the most ridiculous discoveries in various fields of science, including biology [2] .
Discarded beer bottles pose a serious danger to this type of beetle. For males, they are so attractive that beetles prefer bottles to females. The observed phenomenon of the behavior of the Julodimorpha beetles trying to mate with beer bottles of a certain shape is an evolutionary trap, which as a result cannot give reproductive continuation of the genus. It is obviously associated with sudden changes caused by man in the habitual habitat of beetles, when new behavioral or other signals are correlated with old ones, but are false. Such evolutionary and ecological traps can lead to the extinction of a species if the population size falls below a critical level before adaptation to new environmental conditions occurs [16] .
- ↑ Anthony Musgrave (1932). Bibliography of Australian Entomology, 1775-1930, with biographical notes on authors and collectors. - Royal Zoological Society of News South Wales (Sydney): viii + 380
- ↑ 1 2 Severe male love of beetles for beer bottles brought Schnebel Prize to scientists
- ↑ Adam Slipinski, John Lawrence: Australian Beetles, Volume 1, Morphology, Classification and Keys. Collingwood, Vic: CSIRO Publishing, 2013. ISBN 9780643097285 . Hardback 576 pp
- ↑ Keith Carnaby - Jewel Beetles of Western Australia .1987. pp 69
- ↑ Adam White. Spicilegia Entomologica. Iv. Diagnoses Coleopterorum quatuor (ital.) // Annals and Magazine of Natural History : diario. - 1859. - V. 3 , n. 3 - P. 290-291 .
- ↑ Douglas, A..M. (1980). Our Dying Fauna: A Personal Perspective on a Changing Environment. Creative Research in association with Biological Services, Perth, Western Australia: 1-170.
- ↑ Tepper, JGO (1887). Common native insects of South Australia. A popular guide to South Australian Entomology. Part 1. Coleoptera or beetles. ES Wigg & Son, Adelaide: 1-46.
- 2 1 2 3 4 Dr. Trevor J. Hawkeswood Review of the Australian jewel beetle Julodimorpha bakewelli Archived October 5, 2011.
- Hawkeswood, TJ & Peterson, M. (1982). A review of the Australian jewel beetles (Coleoptera: Buprestidae). Victorian Naturalist, 99: 240–251.
- ↑ DT Gwynne, DCF Rentz Beetles on the Bottle: Male Buprestids Mistake Stubbies for Females (Coleoptera) // Journal of the Australian Entomological Society, vol. 22, 1983, pp. 79-80.
- Ich Erich Hoyt, Ted Schultz - Insect Lives: Stories of Mystery and Romance from a Hidden World. Harvard University Press, 2002 360 pp
- ↑ BBC - Earth - Animals are kinkier than you
- ↑ BBC Russian Service - Brutal Passions: “50 Shades of Gray” in the animal world
- ↑ Nature mimics: why bugs mate with beer bottles - Australian Geographic
- ↑ Schnebel Prize 2011 in the field of biology
- ↑ Schlaepfer, MA, Runge, C. & Sherman, PW (2002). Ecological and evolutionary traps. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 17: 474-480.
