Diets of Darkling Beetles (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) Within a Shrub-Steppe Ecosystem

Authors

L. E. Rogers, Environmental Sciences Department, Pacific Northwest Laboratory, Richland, Washington
N. E. Woodley, Environmental Sciences Department, Pacific Northwest Laboratory, Richland, WashingtonFollow
J. K. Sheldon, Environmental Sciences Department, Pacific Northwest Laboratory, Richland, Washington
P. A. Beedlow, Environmental Sciences Department, Pacific Northwest Laboratory, Richland, Washington

Date of this Version

1988

Comments

Published in Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am. 81(5): 782-791 (1988).

Abstract

The diets of 13 species of darkling beetles inhabiting shrub-steppe communities of southcentral Washington were analyzed. Forty-seven vascular plant species, including 7 grasses, 34 forbs, and 6 shrubs, were fed upon. Cluster analysis was used to determine the extent of overlap in food habits among beetle species. The beetle species were separated into five food preference groups. Partitioning of food resources may act to refine niche space of these beetles.