Larval feeding habits of the large-bodied diving beetle Cybister rugosus (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae) under laboratory conditions

Abstract

The population of the diving beetle Cybister rugosus (Macleay, 1825) has been declining in recent years, and it is designated as “Vulnerable” (VU) in the Red List of Japan. However, there have been no quantitative studies on the feeding habits of the larval stage of this beetle. Revealing the feeding habits is indispensable for understanding the life history of C. rugosus. In the current study, we reared C. rugosus larvae on different prey taxa (Odonata nymph, fish, tadpole, and shrimp) and evaluated their growth and survival rates. Previous studies have shown that three congeneric Cybister species larvae feed mainly on invertebrates. However, all larval instars of C. rugosus were able to feed on invertebrates and vertebrates and grow. Thus, we considered C. rugosus to be a generalist compared to the other Cybister species. The larval periods were shorter for C. rugosus that fed on Odonata nymphs than on any other prey. Feeding different prey taxa had no significant effect on the body length of newly emerged adult males. However, the body length of newly emerged adult females was larger when the larvae fed on Odonata nymphs than when the larvae fed on fish. As in other Cybister species, we concluded that the Odonata nymph is an appropriate food from the viewpoint of increased growth rate in C. rugosus.