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Elementary budget of stag beetle larvae associated with selective utilization of nitrogen in decaying wood

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Abstract

Wood degradation by insects plays important roles for the forest matter cycling. Since wood is deficient in nitrogen compared to the insect body, wood-feeding insects need to assimilate the nitrogen selectively and discard an excess carbon. Such a stoichiometric imbalance between food and body will cause high metabolic cost; therefore, wood-feeding insects may somehow alleviate the stoichiometric imbalance. Here, we investigated the carbon and nitrogen budgets of the larvae of stag beetle, Dorcus rectus, which feed on decaying wood. Assimilation efficiency of ingested wood was 22%, and those values based on the carbon and nitrogen were 27 and 45%, respectively, suggesting the selective digestion of nitrogen in wood. Element-based gross growth efficiency was much higher for nitrogen (45%) than for carbon (3%). As a result, the larvae released 24% of the ingested carbon as volatile, whereas almost no gaseous exchange was observed for nitrogen. Moreover, solubility-based elementary analysis revealed that the larvae mainly utilized alkaline-soluble-water-insoluble fraction of wood, which is rich in nitrogen. Actually, the midgut of the larvae was highly alkaline (pH 10.3). Stag beetle larvae are known to exhibit coprophagy, and here we also confirmed that alkaline-soluble-water-insoluble nitrogen increased again from fresh feces to old feces in the field. Stable isotope analysis suggested the utilization of aerial nitrogen by larvae; however, its actual contribution is still disputable. Those results suggest that D. rectus larvae selectively utilize alkaline-soluble nitrogenous substrates by using their highly alkaline midgut, and perhaps associate with microbes that enhance the nitrogen recycling in feces.

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Acknowledgements

We greatly thank Toshio Abe for his help of stable isotope analysis at Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute (Tsukuba City, Japan). We are also grateful to Tatsuya Mishima (Kyushu University) for his critical reading of the manuscript and helpful suggestions. Special thanks are due to Kotaro Takano for providing the beautiful photographs of the stag beetle larvae. This study was supported by Grants-in-Aid (no. JP25292082) from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Applied Chemistry, National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu, 30010, Taiwan

    Masahiko Tanahashi

  2. Faculty of Agriculture and Life Science, Hirosaki University, 3 Bunkyo-cho, Hirosaki, Aomori, 036-8561, Japan

    Hiroshi Ikeda

  3. Laboratory of Forest Zoology, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Yayoi 1-1-1, Bunkyo, Tokyo, 113-8657, Japan

    Kôhei Kubota

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  1. Masahiko Tanahashi
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Tanahashi, M., Ikeda, H. & Kubota, K. Elementary budget of stag beetle larvae associated with selective utilization of nitrogen in decaying wood. Sci Nat 105, 33 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-018-1557-x

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