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<elaterid.htm> [For educational
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COLEOPTERA, Elateridae -- <Images> & <Juveniles> Please refer also to the following
link for details on this group: Elateridae = Link 1 Description The family is largely phytophagous, and the larvae of
most species are major crop pests.
However, a considerable number of genera have species that are predaceous
on insects rather than being phytophagous.
Because the larvae are largely soil inhabiting, they feed on such
other soft-bodied insects as they find.
Thus, scarabaeid grubs are among the most frequent prey. Monocrepidius
pallipes Esch. is an important
natural enemy of white grubs in Fiji and has not been found to attack
sugarcane, while M. exsul Sharp preys on grubs but also is
destructive to young sugarcane in the pacific Islands (Williams 1931). Pyrophorus
luminosus Ill. is the
"cucubano" of the West Indies, which serves as a natural control of
various cane grubs of the family Scarabaeidae. It has been imported to several tropical areas for biological
control of scarabs. Several species
occur in decaying wood where they prey on larvae of different xylophagous
insects (Clausen 1940/62). Most species are are
small and dull colored, with a few exceptions. Adults are usually nocturnal
and phytophagous, and of little economic importance. Howver, they may enter structures and cause damage
to wood products. The larvae, known as wireworms, are saprophagous, but some
species are also agricultural pests.
There are some predators of other insect larvae. There are also
bioluminescent species; e.g.,, Pyrophorus. The larvae are elongated,
cylindrical or flattened, and possess a thick integument. Some species complete development in one
year but most spend 3-4 years in the soil, where they feed on decaying
vegetation and the roots of plants, and often cause damage to a variety
of agricultural crops. Elaterids are
able to quickly locate food by following carbon dioxide gradients from plant
material in the soil, and they are able to recover from the effects of
pesticides. Thus, it is often difficult to reduce a problematic field infestation. Larvae of some South
American species inhabit burrows in termite mounds where they utilize
bioluminescence to attract flying prey. = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = References: Please refer to <biology.ref.htm>, [Additional references
may be found at: MELVYL
Library] Doane, J. F., Y. W. Lee, N. D. Westcott & J.
Klingler. 1975. "The orientation response of Ctenicera
destructor and other wireworms (Coleoptera: Elateridae) to germinating
grain and to carbon dioxide". Canadian Entomologist 107 (12):
1233–1252. Majka, C. G. & Paul J. Johnson. 2008. "The Elateridae (Coleoptera) of
the Maritime Provinces of Canada: faunal composition, new records, and
taxonomic changes" (PDF excerpt). Zootaxa 1811: 1–33. Parker, W. E.
& Julia J. Howard. 2001.
"The biology and management of wireworms (Agriotes spp.) on
potato with particular reference to the U.K.". Agricultural and Forest
Entomology 3 (2): 85–98. Schneider, M. C., M. C. Almeida, SPolicena Rosa, C.
Costa & D. Maria Cella. 2006. "Evolutionary chromosomal
differentiation among four species of Conoderus Eschscholtz, 1829
(Coleoptera, Elateridae, Agrypninae, Conoderini) detected by standart
staining, C-banding, silver nitrate impregnation, and CMA3/DA/DAPI
staining". Genetica 128 (1–3): 333–346. Van Herk, W. G. & Robert S. Vernon. 2007. "Soil bioassay for studying
behavioral responses of wireworms (Coleoptera: Elateridae) to
inecticide-treated wheat seed". Environmental Entomology 36 (6): 1441–1449. Van Herk, W. G., R. S. Vernon, J. H. Tolman & H.
Ortiz Saavedra. 2008. "Mortality of a wireworm, Agriotes
obscurus (Coleoptera: Elateridae), after topical application of various
insecticides". Journal of Economic Entomology 101 (2): 375–383. Vernon, R. S.,
W. Van Herk, J. Tolman, H. Ortiz Saavedra, M. Clodius & B.
Gage. 2008. "Transitional sublethal
and lethal effects of insecticides after dermal exposures to five economic
species of wireworms (Coleoptera: Elateridae)". Journal of Economic
Entomology 101 (2): 365–374. |