THE BEETLE COMMUNITY OF SMALL OAK TWIGS IN LOUISIANA, WITH ALITERATURE REVIEW OF COLEOPTERA FROM FINE WOODY DEBRIS

摘要

We conducted a study to explore which beetles utilize dead twigs in a Louisiana secondaryforest and the effect of debris position on the beetle community. Twigs averaging 14 mm indiameter from one tree of Quercus falcata Michaux (southern red oak) were placedrandomly into bundles of ten. At each of three sites, three bundles were laid on the ground,three were propped at the base of a living tree, and three were tied tightly above the groundagainst the branch of a living woody plant. The bundles were collected 10 months later andeach was placed into an emergence chamber. More than 400 adult Coleoptera specimenswere collected, representing 35 species within 16 families. Cerambycidae (longhorn beetles)and Curculionidae (weevils) exhibited the highest species richness, with nine and five species,respectively. Species richness was significantly different among treatments. Bundles placedon the ground had the lowest richness, aboveground bundles had the highest, and proppedbundles were intermediate. Twelve species (34%) were represented by singletons.