Beaver beetle

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Platypsyllus castoris
Platypsyllus castoris1.jpg
Scientific classification
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Genus:
Platypsyllus

Ritsema, 1869
Species:
P. castoris
Binomial name
Platypsyllus castoris
Ritsema, 1869 [1]
Synonyms

Platypsyllus castorinusWestwood, 1869

The beaver beetle (Platypsyllus castoris) is an ectoparasitic beetle that is only found on its host species, beavers, [2] [3] and the sole member of the genus Platypsyllus. It is flattened and eyeless, [4] resembling a flea or tick. It used to be placed in a separate family called Leptinidae, but is now placed in the family Leiodidae, in the subfamily Platypsyllinae. [1]

Contents

Description

The beaver beetle has various modifications to suit its ectoparasitic mode of life. It resembles a flea or a louse in appearance and the family Platypsyllidae was originally placed in the flea order Siphonaptera, [5] [6] and one taxonomist treated it as a unique example of a new order of insects. [7] It has no wings and no eyes, and its antennal clubs have the antennomeres numbered 3 to 11 shortened, compacted globularly, and partly enclosed in a scoop-shaped antennomere. The larvae are also ectoparasitic on beavers and have hooks on the three thoracic segments which enable it to cling to its host. [1]

Distribution

The beetle exists only in the northern hemisphere (holarctic) and is restricted to areas in which beavers are found, North America and northern Europe and Asia. [1]

Behaviour

Besides the North American beaver (Castor canadensis) and the Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber), the only other host on which this beetle has been found is the North American river otter (Lontra canadensis), and this was only on one occasion. It is hypothesized that the otter may have picked up the parasite when it entered a beaver lodge or perhaps killed a young beaver, a thing that otters are believed to do on occasion. Both adult beetles and larvae feed on epidermal tissue, and also perhaps on skin secretions and liquids oozing from wounds. It is possible that the larvae may also act as scavengers in the beaver lodge. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beaver</span> Genus of semiaquatic rodents that build dams and lodges

Beavers are large, semiaquatic rodents of the Northern Hemisphere. There are two existing species: the North American beaver and the Eurasian beaver. Beavers are the second-largest living rodents, after capybaras, weighing up to 50 kg (110 lb). They have stout bodies with large heads, long chisel-like incisors, brown or gray fur, hand-like front feet, webbed back feet, and tails that are flat and scaly. The two species differ in skull and tail shape and fur color. Beavers can be found in a number of freshwater habitats, such as rivers, streams, lakes and ponds. They are herbivorous, consuming tree bark, aquatic plants, grasses and sedges.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beetle</span> Order of insects

Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera, in the superorder Holometabola. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 described species, is the largest of all orders, constituting almost 40% of described insects and 25% of all known animal species; new species are discovered frequently, with estimates suggesting that there are between 0.9 and 2.1 million total species. Found in almost every habitat except the sea and the polar regions, they interact with their ecosystems in several ways: beetles often feed on plants and fungi, break down animal and plant debris, and eat other invertebrates. Some species are serious agricultural pests, such as the Colorado potato beetle, while others such as Coccinellidae eat aphids, scale insects, thrips, and other plant-sucking insects that damage crops.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flea</span> Insects of the order Siphonaptera

Flea, the common name for the order Siphonaptera, includes 2,500 species of small flightless insects that live as external parasites of mammals and birds. Fleas live by ingesting the blood of their hosts. Adult fleas grow to about 3 millimetres long, are usually brown, and have bodies that are "flattened" sideways or narrow, enabling them to move through their hosts' fur or feathers. They lack wings; their hind legs are extremely well adapted for jumping. Their claws keep them from being dislodged, and their mouthparts are adapted for piercing skin and sucking blood. They can leap 50 times their body length, a feat second only to jumps made by another group of insects, the superfamily of froghoppers. Flea larvae are worm-like, with no limbs; they have chewing mouthparts and feed on organic debris left on their hosts' skin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parasitoid</span> Organism that lives with its host and kills it

In evolutionary ecology, a parasitoid is an organism that lives in close association with its host at the host's expense, eventually resulting in the death of the host. Parasitoidism is one of six major evolutionary strategies within parasitism, distinguished by the fatal prognosis for the host, which makes the strategy close to predation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cucujidae</span> Family of beetles

The Cucujidae, "flat bark beetles," are a family of distinctively flat beetles found worldwide under the bark of dead trees. The family has received considerable taxonomic attention in recent years and now consists of 70 species distributed in five genera. It was indicated Cucujus species are scavengers, only feeding on pupae and larvae of other insects and on other subcortical beetles such as their own. Since the Cucujidae prey on larvae of potentially tree damaging beetles that spread fungal diseases, they are considered to be beneficial to the health of living trees.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bark beetle</span> Subfamily of beetles

A bark beetle is the common name for the subfamily of beetles Scolytinae. Previously, this was considered a distinct family (Scolytidae), but is now understood to be a specialized clade of the "true weevil" family (Curculionidae). Although the term "bark beetle" refers to the fact that many species feed in the inner bark (phloem) layer of trees, the subfamily also has many species with other lifestyles, including some that bore into wood, feed in fruit and seeds, or tunnel into herbaceous plants. Well-known species are members of the type genus Scolytus, namely the European elm bark beetle S. multistriatus and the large elm bark beetle S. scolytus, which like the American elm bark beetle Hylurgopinus rufipes, transmit Dutch elm disease fungi (Ophiostoma). The mountain pine beetle Dendroctonus ponderosae, southern pine beetle Dendroctonus frontalis, and their near relatives are major pests of conifer forests in North America. A similarly aggressive species in Europe is the spruce ips Ips typographus. A tiny bark beetle, the coffee berry borer, Hypothenemus hampei is a major pest on coffee plantations around the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North American river otter</span> Species of semi-aquatic mammal

The North American river otter, also known as the northern river otter and river otter, is a semiaquatic mammal that lives only on the North American continent, along its waterways and coasts. An adult North American river otter can weigh between 5.0 and 14 kg. The river otter is protected and insulated by a thick, water-repellent coat of fur.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hyperparasite</span> Parasite of another parasite

A hyperparasite, also known as a metaparasite, is a parasite whose host, often an insect, is also a parasite, often specifically a parasitoid. Hyperparasites are found mainly among the wasp-waisted Apocrita within the Hymenoptera, and in two other insect orders, the Diptera and Coleoptera (beetles). Seventeen families in Hymenoptera and a few species of Diptera and Coleoptera are hyperparasitic. Hyperparasitism developed from primary parasitism, which evolved in the Jurassic period in the Hymenoptera. Hyperparasitism intrigues entomologists because of its multidisciplinary relationship to evolution, ecology, behavior, biological control, taxonomy, and mathematical models.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flea beetle</span> Tribe of small jumping beetles

The flea beetle is a small, jumping beetle of the leaf beetle family (Chrysomelidae), that makes up the tribe Alticini which is part of the subfamily Galerucinae. Historically the flea beetles were classified as their own subfamily.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Staphylinoidea</span> Superfamily of beetles

Staphylinoidea is a superfamily of beetles. It is a very large and diverse group with worldwide distribution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Planidium</span>

A planidium is a specialized form of insect larva seen in the first-instar of a few families of insects that have parasitoidal ways of life. They are usually flattened, highly sclerotized (hardened), and quite mobile. The function of the planidial stage is to find a host on which the later larval instars may feed, generally until the insect pupates.

<i>Altica</i> Genus of beetles

Altica is a large genus of flea beetles in the subfamily Galerucinae, with about 300 species, distributed nearly worldwide. The genus is best represented in the Neotropical realm, well represented in the Nearctic and Palearctic, but occurs also in the Afrotropic, Indomalaya, and Australasia. The species are similar to each other, small metallic blue-green-bronze beetles, often distinguished from each other only by the aedeagus. The species of Altica, both as larvae and as adults, are phytophagous, feeding on plant foliage of various food plant taxa, specific for each Altica species. Onagraceae and Rosaceae are the dominant host plant families for Holarctic species. The adult Altica beetles are able to jump away when approached.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Passandridae</span> Family of beetles

Passandridae, the "parasitic flat bark beetles," are a family of beetles notable for being one of the very few beetle families with larvae that are, as far as known, exclusively ectoparasitic on the immature stages of other beetles and Hymenoptera.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oligostraca</span> Superclass of crustaceans

Oligostraca is a superclass of crustaceans. It consist of the following three classes:

Leptinillus validus, the beaver nest beetle, is a species of round fungus beetle in the family Leiodidae. It is found in North America.

Leptinillus is a genus of mammal-nest beetles in the family Leiodidae. There are at least 2 described species in Leptinillus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allantonematidae</span> Family of roundworms

Allantonematidae is a family of insect-parasitic nematodes from the order Tylenchida. Allantonematid nematodes infect a variety of insects including beetles, butterflies, flies, thrips, ants, and more. For instance, the nematode Howardula aoronymphium parasitizes mushroom-feeding fruit flies, Formicitylenchus oregonensis parasitizes carpenter ants, and Metaparasitylenchus hypothenemi parasitizes a pest of coffee beans, the coffee berry borer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Platypsyllinae</span> Subfamily of beetles

Platypsyllinae is a subfamily of the family Leiodidae, known as mammal-nest beetles. The group was formerly known as the family Leptinidae but the name Platypsyllidae had seniority, and is now ranked as a subfamily.

<i>Symmorphus cristatus</i>

Symmorphus cristatus is a species of mason wasp in the subfamily Eumeninae within the family Vespidae. This species is widely distributed in North America, and it preys on the larvae of leaf beetles.

Adoretus versutus, commonly known as rose beetle, is a species of shining leaf chafer found in Afro-Oriental tropics.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Peck, S. B. (March–June 2006). "Distribution and biology of the ectoparasitic beaver beetle Platypsyllus castoris Ritsema in North America (Coleoptera: Leiodidae: Platypsyllinae)". Insecta Mundi. 20 (1–2): 85. ISSN   0749-6737. Archived from the original on 16 March 2013. Retrieved 8 April 2013. ...and Platypsyllus Ritsema 1869 with one apparently Holarctic species, ectoparasitic on the two species of Castor.
  2. Cardé, Vincent H.; Resh, Ring T., eds. (2009). Encyclopedia of Insects (2nd ed.). Amsterdam: Elsevier/Academic Press. p.  197. ISBN   9780080920900. Platypsyllus castoris beetles of the family Leiodidae are specialists on beavers,...
  3. Whitaker, John O. (1996). National Audubon Society Field Guide to Mammals (Revised ed.). New York: Knopf. p.  568. ISBN   0-679-44631-1. Beavers are hosts to a unique parasite that lives on the exterior of their bodies—a highly specialized beetle that parasitizes only beavers.
  4. Goater, Timothy M.; Goater, Cameron P.; Esch, Gerald W. (2013). Parasitism: The Diversity and Ecology of Animal Parasites (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 325. ISBN   9780521190282. All genera [of Coleoptera, which includes Platypsyllus,] are wingless and are eyeless or have reduced eyes, and are markedly dorsoventrally flattened.
  5. Ritsema, C. (1869). "No title". Petites Nouvelles Entomologiques. 1: 23.
  6. Ritsema, C. (1869). "No title". Petites Nouvelles Entomologiques. 1: 38.
  7. Westwood, J.O. (1869). "Notice of a new order of hexapod insects". Entomologist's Monthly Magazine. 6: 118–119.