An Appraisal of Range and Evolutionary Significance of Flower-Beetle Association, with Special Reference to Sap Beetles (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae)

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Abstract

A range of beetle species are associated with plants and many of them reside primarily in flowers; of these Nitidulidae possess a large share. Beetles which thrive upon angiosperms exhibited a rapid rate of speciation as compared to others with different feeding habits. Hence, beetles and angiosperms have co-evolved and influenced each others’ evolution for better survival. Some flower-visiting beetles have developed special features for floral diet and other purposes like pollination, shelter, reproduction, etc. Likewise, certain flowers also have adapted structurally and physiologically to attract beetles for pollination which include pollen, nectar, floral heat etc. Although beetles are found to be amongst the pioneer flower visitors, they are not as efficient pollinator as bee and butterfly. However, they have been found to be chief pollinators for a few plant families like Magnoliaceae, Annonaceae and Palmae. Several sap beetles have been encountered in floral parts in West Bengal, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Tripura. Nature of relationships of those beetles with inflorescence and flowers were examined. None of them is yet found to be a true pollinator.

Keywords

Plant Flower Beetle Nitidulidae Association Range 
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Notes

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Dr. Kailash Chandra, Director, Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) for providing necessary facilities to carry out the work. Dr. M.E. Hassan, Scientist, ZSI, Dr. O.K. Rema Devi, Scientist, IWST, Bengaluru, Dr. Reddy, Scientist, IIHR, Bengaluru and Professor C. A. Viraktamath, Emeritus Professor, GKVK, Bengaluru extended support and co-operation in the research work. We remain thankful to the anonymous reviewers of the paper for constructive criticisms and suggestions for improvement of the text.

Compliance with Ethical Standards

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

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Copyright information

© Zoological Society, Kolkata, India 2017

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Zoological Survey of IndiaKolkataIndia

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