Abstract
We report laboratory observation of siblicide with hatching asynchrony in the passalid beetle Cylindrocaulus patalis. Parents construct a breeding gallery in rotten logs and show complex care of offspring, including provisioning. Clutch sizes are extremely small, and only a single offspring is raised in a colony in each breeding season. We introduced field-collected colonies into an artificial gallery and recorded the behaviour of colony members. Eggs hatched at 2- to 10-day intervals in each colony. Fatal fighting invariably occurred among the larvae soon after hatching of the junior larva, and a single larva, usually the senior one, survived.
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References
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Acknowledgments
We thank Douglas Mock for his critical comments on earlier drafts of this paper. Constructive comments form an anonymous reviewer also improved the manuscript.
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Ento, K., Araya, K. & Kudo, Si. Laboratory observation of siblicide with hatching asynchrony in an insect with parental provisioning. J Ethol 28, 405–407 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10164-010-0208-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10164-010-0208-2