Establishment of a laboratory-rearing technique for the rove beetle Anotylus amicus (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae) with investigations of its life cycle, behavior and morphological variations

Abstract

Rove beetles (Staphylinidae) are one of the largest families in Coleoptera. Although the ecological features of rove beetles are important subjects in terms of understanding their diversification processes, laboratory-rearing studies have only been conducted for a few species to date. In this study, we established a continuous rearing method for Anotylus amicus (Bernhauer, 1923) (Staphylinidae: Oxytelinae) using bell cricket food. In addition, its life cycle, behavior and morphological variations were investigated using the rearing technique. The mean duration of egg, first, second and third instars, prepupa and pupa were 4.3, 4.0, 4.0, 7.8, 1.7 and 4.7 days at 24°C, respectively. Adults and larvae used substrate, food and excrement for nesting. Mate guarding by males and associated male–male combat were observed. Head width and body size sexually varied; most males were larger than females, but some were comparable to females. Many individuals possessed undeveloped short hindwings, while some, especially large females, had long ones. As A. amicus can be reared simply, have a fairly short generation period, and exhibit interesting behavioral and morphological characteristics, A. amicus is suitable for clarifying the ecological aspects of rove beetles.