Distribution of abundance and genome size variability in the grain beetle Oryzaephilus surinamensis (Linnaeus, 1758) (Coleoptera: Silvanidae)
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2008 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Zoology in the Middle East |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Web | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09397140.2008.10638310 |
| Field | Botany |
| Keywords | genome size; abundance; C-value; Evolution Canyon; Quercus; oak; Israel |
| Description | We examined the distribution of abundance and genome size (GS, 2C-value) variability of the saw-toothed grain beetle Oryzaephilus surinamensis on the opposite slopes of the microsite Evolution Canyon (EC), Mt.Carmel, Israel. As controls, we used one sample of beetle population from a grain silo in Haifa and one sample from Upper Galilee (Sabalan Mts). The study showed that O. surinamensis is abundant in acorns of Quercus calliprinos (Palestine oak). The observed number of adults of O. surinamensis per acorn ranged from 0 to 12 at EC and 54% of acorns were not infected. At EC, O. surinamensis was more abundant on the European, garrigue-like north-facing slope (ES) than on the African, savannah-like south-facing (AS) slope, reflecting the interslope differences in the number of oak trees. There was a significant positive correlation between beetle abundance and number of acorns. Both the number of acorns and the number of beetles decreased with the ES altitude. |
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