Amborotubus, Leschen and Carlton, 2004

Leschen, Richard A. B. & Carlton, Christopher E., 2004, A New tribe, Genus and Species of Nitidulid Beetle (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae: Nitidulinae) from Bolivia, The Coleopterists Bulletin 58 (3), pp. 443-451 : 443-451

Biology of Amborotubus

The area surrounding the Hotel Flora and Fauna is situated in the Andean foothills 15 km east of the eastern Cordillera in the Department of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, and is part of the Amboró Protected Area and National Park. The immediate location is a complex transition zone of three forest types (based on classification of Holdridge et al. 1971): humid tropical Amazonian forest which extends to the northwest, Chiquitano Forest which is part of the Brazilian Cerrado extending north-eastwards, and elements of Chaco forest (or temperate humid forest, see Unzueta (1975) and Clarke and Sagot (1996)), lying to the south. Two light trap stations were set by the Thomas expedition and the catches from each were combined into one sample each night. One trap was set in the Chiquitano forest that starts 400 m to the east, covering the next ridge across the valley at the back of the hotel. The other trap was set in secondary tropical humid forest along a ridge extending from the hotel; but below the ridgeline is subtropical humid forest. Amborotubus clarkei could have flown to the light traps from any one of these forest types. Although the paratype label lacks collection method information, J. Wappes recalled that the specimen was collected at a light (A. Cline, pers. comm.).

The hindgut of A. clarkei contained fungal spores indicating that it has mycophagous habits, but its natural history is unknown. The unusual characters that are similar to members of Cychramptodini may provide clues to its biology (such as the tubulate body form, modifications of the head and legs), though the biology of Cychramptodini is also poorly known. Cychramptodes murrayi Reitter is a predator on scales (Farrel 1985) and Kirejtshuk and Lawrence (1992) suggested that other cychramptodines may have similar habits based on the presence of similar defensive adaptations, presumably against ants that tend the scales on which the beetles feed. Expanded tarsomeres and the highly convex body with the legs largely concealed below suggest that Cychramptodini may be active in exposed habitats, a feature that could be common to all species of the tribe. The legs, which are not concealed in lateral view, and the reduced tarsal pads are 450 features suggesting that A. clarkei may be active in confined habitats such as bark beetle tunnels, and possibly ant and/or termite nests.