Abstract
Distress signals produced by dung beetles of the genus Trypocopris (Coleoptera, Geotrupidae) were analysed to test whether interspecific and intraspecific acoustic variability are species- and subspecies-specific and to ascertain to what extent bioacoustic parameters depend upon the morphology of the stridulatory organs (pars stridens). Bioacoustic analyses showed that the three species were clearly differentiated, despite the fact that disturbance stridulations presented the same stereotyped spectrographic pattern. Within each species, most of the subspecies and populations considered were also bioacoustically distinguishable. Subspecies and populations within each species were differentiated with regard to body size and stridulatory organ, and the length of the pars stridens was positively correlated with the width of the coxa, in turn positively correlated with body size. A few spectrographic measures were significantly constrained by the morphology of the stridulatory apparatus; in particular the duration of sound emission was positively correlated with the length of the apparatus and the sub-pulse rate was negatively related to the distance between two consecutive crests. For T. pyrenaeus, with the largest number of populations sampled, there was no significant correlation between morphological and spectrographic distances, but there were significant positive correlations between morphological and geographical distances and between morphological and genetic distances. It is hypothesized that genetic differentiation might directly affect variability of the stridulatory apparata which would also be indirectly influenced and constrained by external morphological traits (like the width of the coxa and body size). Stridulatory organs, in turn, would affect the ways a few stridulatory traits (especially the temporal ones) change in time and space.
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs10144-004-0170-3/MediaObjects/s10144-004-0170-3fhb1.jpg)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs10144-004-0170-3/MediaObjects/s10144-004-0170-3fhb2.jpg)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs10144-004-0170-3/MediaObjects/s10144-004-0170-3fhb3.jpg)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs10144-004-0170-3/MediaObjects/s10144-004-0170-3fhb4.jpg)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs10144-004-0170-3/MediaObjects/s10144-004-0170-3fhb5.jpg)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs10144-004-0170-3/MediaObjects/s10144-004-0170-3fhb6.jpg)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs10144-004-0170-3/MediaObjects/s10144-004-0170-3flb7.gif)
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bailey WJ (1991) Acoustic behaviour of insects. Chapman and Hall, London
Buchler R, Wright TB, Brown ED (1981) On the function of stridulation by the Passalid beetle Odontotaenius disjunctus (Coleoptera: Passalidae). Anim Behav 29:483–486
Carisio L, Cervella P, DelPero M, Palestrini C, Rolando A (2004) Patterns of genetic differentiation in dung beetles of the genus Trypocopris (Coleoptera, Geotrupidae), inferred from mtDNA and AFLP analyses. J Biogeogr (in press)
Dumortier B (1963) Ethological and physiological study of sound emission in Arthropoda. In: Busnel RG (ed) The acoustic behaviour of animals. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 583–654
Ewing AW (1989) Arthropod bioacoustics. Neurobiology and behaviour. Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh
Forrest TG, Read MP, Farris HE, Hoy RR (1997) A tympanal hearing organ in scarab beetles. J Exp Biol 200:601–606
Hammond PM (1979) Wing-folding mechanism of beetles, with special reference to investigations of adephagan phylogeny (Coleoptera). In: Erwin T, Ball GE, Whitehead DR (eds) Carabid beetles: their evolution, natural history, and classification. Junk Publisher, The Hague, Boston
Hanski I, Cambefort Y (1991) Dung beetle ecology. Princeton University Press, Princeton
Hirschberger P (2001) Stridulation in Aphodius dung beetles: behavioural context and intraspecific variability of song patterns in Aphodius ater (Scarabaeidae). J Insect Behav 14:69–88
Hirschberger P, Rohrseitz K (1995) Stridulation in the adult dung beetle Aphodius ater (Col. Aphodiidae). Zoology 99:97–102
Holter P (1982) Resource utilization and local coexistence in a guild of scarabaeid dung beetles (Aphodius spp.). Oikos 39:213–227
Joseph KJ (1991) SEM study of the stridulatory organs in the giant dung beetle Heliocopris dominus (Scarabaeidae) with observations on the significance of sound production. Entomon 16:319–322
Mantel N (1967) The detection of disease clustering and a generalized regression approach. Cancer Res 27:209–220
Martín-Piera F, López-Colón JI (2000) Fauna Iberica. Coleoptera, Scarabaeoidea I. In: Ramos MA et al. (eds) Fauna Iberica, vol. 14. Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales. CSIC, Madrid
Masters WM (1979) Insect disturbance stridulation: its defensive role. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 5:187–200
Monteith GH, Storey RI (1981) The biology of Cephalodesmius, a genus of dung beetles which synthesized dung from plant material. Mem Queensl Mus 20:253–277
Nei M (1987) Molecular evolutionary genetics. Columbia University Press, New York
Palestrini C, Pavan G (1995) The stridulation in Thorectes intermedius (Costa) (Coleoptera, Geotrupidae). Elytron 9:115–124
Palestrini C, Piazza R, Zunino M (1988) Segnali sonori in tre specie di Geotrupini (Coleoptera, Scabaeoidea, Geotrupidae). Boll Soc Entomol Ital 119:139–151
Palestrini C, Pavan G, Zunino M (1990a) Acoustic signals and stridulatory apparatus in Copris incertus Say (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae: Coprinae). Acta Zool Mex (N.S.) 39:1–18
Palestrini C, Zunino M, Zucchelli M (1990b) Sound production in the larvae of Geotrupes spiniger (Marsham) (Coleoptera, Geotrupidae). Bioacoustics 2:209–216
Palestrini C, Pensati F, Barbero E, Zunino M (1996) Interspecific differences of distress signals in Passalid beetles (Coleoptera, Passalidae). Insect Soc Life 1:227–231
Palestrini C, Barbero E, Rolando A (1998) Intra- and interspecific aggregation among dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea) in an Alpine pasture. J Zool Lond 245:101–109
Paulian R, Baraud J (1982) Faune de Coléoptères de France. II Lucanoidea et Scarabaeoidea. Lechevalier, Paris
Pavan G, Palestrini C, Trevisan E (1990) Contribution to the knowledge of Thorectes intermedius (Costa) (Coleoptera, Scarabaeoidea, Geotrupidae) larval stridulation. Elytron 4:153–159
Ragge DR, Reynolds WJ (1998) The songs of the grasshoppers and crickets of western Europe. Harley Books, Colchester
Reyes-Castillo P, Jarman M (1983) Disturbance sounds of adult Passalid beetles (Coleoptera, Passalidae): structural and functional aspects. Ann Entomol Soc Am 76:6–22
Roces F, Manrique G (1996) Different stridulatory vibrations during sexual behaviour and disturbance in the blood-sucking bug Triatoma infestans (Hemiptera: Reduviidae). J Insect Physiol 42:231–238
Samuelson GA (1996) Binding sites: elytron-to-body meshing structures of possible significance in the higher classification of Chrysomeloidea. In: Jolivet PHA, Cox ML (eds) Chrysomelidae biology, vol I: the classification, phylogeny and genetics. SPB Academic Publishing, Amsterdam
Schilman PE, Lazzari CR, Manrique G (2001) Comparison of disturbance stridulations in five species of triatominae bugs. Acta Trop 79:171–178
Schneider W (1950) Über den Erschüterungssinn von Käfern und Fliegen. Z Vergl Physiol 32:77–88
Sokal RR, Rohlf FJ (1995) Biometry. Freeman, New York
Valenzuela-Gonzáles J, Castillo ML (1983) Contribution á l’étude du comportament chez les Passalidae. Bull Soc Entomol Fr 88:607–617
Winking-Nikolai A (1975) Untersuchungen zur Bio-Akustik des Waldmistkäfers, Geotrupes stercorosus Scriba. Z Tierpsychol 37:515–541
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to A. Colla, B. Massa and F. Penati for logistic and direct assistance during sampling. P. Laiolo, V. Valsania, R. Pansecchi and L. Melloni helped during sample collection, E. Piattella and F. Tagliaferri kindly indicated appropriate sampling localities. We also thank E. Barbero for help in species identification. This research was financially supported by Turin University funds.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Appendix
Appendix
Table 3 shows the descriptive statistics of the spectrographic variables.
Table 4 shows the descriptive statistics of the body size variables.
Table 5 shows the descriptive statistics of the stridulatory apparatus.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Carisio, L., Palestrini, C. & Rolando, A. Stridulation variability and morphology: an examination in dung beetles of the genus Trypocopris (Coleoptera, Geotrupidae). Popul Ecol 46, 27–37 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10144-004-0170-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10144-004-0170-3