Biology of Bark and Ambrosia Beetles (Coleoptera: Scolytidae and Platypodidae) of a Tropical Rain Forest in Southeastern Mexico with an Annotated Checklist of Species

Abstract

Feeding habits, degree of host specificity, and mating systems were examined for 83 species of Scolytidae and Platypodidae in a tropical rain forest in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Mexico. Neotropical genera dominate the fauna; most species have been found in Central America and northern South America. The dominant feeding habit was xylomycetophagy (60.2%) followed by phloeophagy (26.5%), a pattern observed in other humid tropical areas, but different from that observed in other Mexican communities. Most xylomycetophagous species were highly polyphagous; phloeophagous species were much more host-specific. Most common mating systems were monogyny (49.4%) and inbred polygyny (34.9%), the latter associated with a high degree of polyphagy. An annotated checklist of species is presented as appendix.