| Pimelia | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Pimelia obsoleta | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Coleoptera |
| Infraorder: | Cucujiformia |
| Family: | Tenebrionidae |
| Subfamily: | Pimeliinae |
| Tribe: | Pimeliini |
| Genus: | Pimelia Fabricius, 1775 |
Pimelia is a genus of darkling beetles in the subfamily Pimeliinae. [1] [2] [3]
Pimelia are univoltine, with one generation per year. Species in North Africa emerge in January to begin mating, synchronously with floral bloom. Normally Pimelia are detrivores, but during mating season they may cannibalize other adults, larvae, and eggs. This behavior may be due to need for extra nutrients or simply to eliminate competitors. Following behavior [5] [ failed verification ] and mating take place on the slip face of a sand dune. After mating, the female digs a shallow hole and deposits a single egg, which closely resembles a grain of white rice. As the temperature rises above 50 °C the adult population dies off. Immature stages remain below the surface until maturity. During the winter the adults emerge. [6]
Many Pimelia species are conspicuous as they cross sand dunes. Locomotion in this difficult terrain is facilitated by numerous tarsal setae that allow for rapid tumbling behavior. [7]
Adaptations to arid climates and desert environments allow Pimelia to survive and reproduce in the dunes, but the relative importance of abiotic and biotic factors in this respect is not clear. [8] Environmental factors influencing these adaptations are extremes of temperature and humidity, excessive radiant energy, low and irregular rainfall, long periods of drought, strong winds, unstable sand substrates, and sparse, specialized vegetation. [9]
Several morphological adaptations allow Pimelia to survive in the desert, including the lipid layers of the epicuticle, fused sclerites, the subelytral cavity, and the texture of the body surface. Much of the success of tenebrionid beetles in desert habitats is due to the development of impermeable cuticles. [10] The fused sclerites of desert tenebrionids minimize water loss, [11] but they result in flightlessness. [12] The main barrier to the outward flow of water through insect integument is the lipid layer of the epicuticle. [13] In many terrestrial arthropods, the temperature affects the permeability of the cuticle. There is a sudden increase in the rate of transpiration at what is known as the transition temperature. This may coincide with a physical change, perhaps the disorientation of the lipid molecules in the epicuticle. [14] In tenebrionid beetles, the spiracles open into a humid subelytral cavity rather than directly to the atmosphere, thus reducing water loss. Water retention by intact elytral covers is greater at 0% relative humidity than at 97%. The size of the cavity is not important. Transpiration increases if the elytra are removed, emphasizing the importance of the epicuticle and subelytral cavity. [15] Pimelia have tubercles on the surface of their elytra which scatter and reflect incident energy.
Burrowing is probably the most important behavior modification for heat regulation in Pimelia, because it permits access to a broad range of ambient temperatures. [16] Pimelia are diurnal, emerging in early morning and late evening but remaining under the sand during the hot hours of the day. [17]
Darkling beetle is the common name for members of the beetle family Tenebrionidae, comprising over 20,000 species in a cosmopolitan distribution.
The Tenebrionoidea are a very large and diverse superfamily of beetles. It generally corresponds to the Heteromera of earlier authors.
Anthia is a genus of the ground beetle family (Carabidae) from Africa and Asia. Species of Anthia can spray a jet of formic acid up to 30 centimetres (12 in), which, if not treated, can cause blindness in animals that harass the beetles.
Cicindela, commonly known as common tiger beetles, are generally brightly colored and metallic beetles, often with some sort of patterning of ivory or cream-colored markings. They are most abundant and diverse in habitats very often near bodies of water with sandy or occasionally clay soils; they can be found along rivers, sea and lake shores, sand dunes, around dry lakebeds, on clay banks, or woodland paths.
Eleodes is a genus of darkling beetles, in the family Tenebrionidae. They are endemic to western North America ranging from southern Canada to central Mexico with many species found along the Mexico-United States border. Some species have been introduced to Colombia. The name pinacate is Mexican Spanish, derived from the Nahuatl (Aztec) name for the insect, pinacatl, which translates as "black beetle."
Tenebrioninae is the largest subfamily of the darkling beetles (Tenebrionidae), containing flour beetles, among others. Tenebrioninae contains more than 20 tribes.
Melyridae are a family of beetles of the superfamily Cleroidea.
Odontocheila is a genus in the beetle family Cicindelidae. There are more than 70 described species in Odontocheila, found in South America, Central America, and Mexico.
Gonocephalum is a genus of darkling beetles in the family Tenebrionidae.
The Sepidiini is a tribe of ground-dwelling darkling beetles (Tenebrionidae), that occurs across Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Arabian Peninsula and Mesopotamia. It is composed of many hundreds of species. The larvae of some species are known to damage crops.
Pimelia angulata is a species of darkling beetles in the subfamily Pimeliinae.
Tribolium is a genus of flour beetles in the family Tenebrionidae. They are known by various common names including flour beetles, flour weevils, red weevils and bran bugs.
Toktokkies are various species of beetles that belong to the large Tenebrionidae family, also known as Darkling beetle. Toktokkies do not belong to a particular tribe or genus of Tenebrionids, but rather a selection of flightless species that make distinct noises by tapping on the ground with the abdomen. The Tenebrionidae family to which these beetles belong is quite large, with almost 3,500 species inhabiting Southern Africa. Nearly 200 species of Toktokkies inhabit the Namibia and 20 have adapted to the extreme temperatures of the Namib Desert. The most common Toktokkies in the Namib Desert are the Fog Basking beetle and the button beetle or trench-digging beetle.
Tropisternus is a genus of hydrophilid beetles with 63 species in five subgenera in North and South America.
Physosterna cribripes, the desert toktokkie or woestyntoktokkie, is a flightless species of desert-dwelling darkling beetle or Tenebrionid found along the West coast of Namibia and Angola. This species has a body length of some 18.4 mm and a mass of 402 mg.
Lycinae is a subfamily of net-winged beetles in the family Lycidae.
Blaps is a genus of darkling beetles in the family Tenebrionidae. There are more than 30 described species in Blaps, the genus being most commonly found in Eurasia and Australia, with occasional sightings elsewhere in the world.
Pimeliini is a tribe of darkling beetles in the subfamily Pimeliinae of the family Tenebrionidae. There are more than 60 genera in Pimeliini, found primarily in the Palearctic.
Mariazofia is a genus of ground-dwelling Afrotropical beetles in the family Tenebrionidae. They are among the largest of the darkling beetles. Like other genera within subtribe Molurina, adults of this genus engage in a behavior known as "substrate tapping", a form of sexual communication in which they produce vibrations by tapping their abdomen rhythmically on the ground to attract mates. Their common name, "tok-tok beetle" or "toktokkie beetle", is based on this behavior.
