Baena Martha L, Escobar Federico, Halffter Gonzalo, García-Chávez Juan H
Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas, Universidad Veracruzana (IIB-UV), Xalapa, Veracruz, México.
Instituto de Ecología, A. C., Red de Ecoetología, Xalapa, Veracruz, México.
PLoS One. 2015 Sep 30;10(9):e0139538. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0139538. eCollection 2015.
Omorgus suberosus (Fabricius, 1775) has been identified as a potential predator of the eggs of the turtle Lepidochelys olivacea (Eschscholtz, 1829) on one of the main turtle nesting beaches in the world, La Escobilla in Oaxaca, Mexico. This study presents an analysis of the spatio-temporal distribution of the beetle on this beach (in areas of high and low density of L. olivacea nests over two arrival seasons) and an evaluation, under laboratory conditions, of the probability of damage to the turtle eggs by this beetle. O. suberosus adults and larvae exhibited an aggregated pattern at both turtle nest densities; however, aggregation was greater in areas of low nest density, where we found the highest proportion of damaged eggs. Also, there were fluctuations in the temporal distribution of the adult beetles following the arrival of the turtles on the beach. Under laboratory conditions, the beetles quickly damaged both dead eggs and a mixture of live and dead eggs, but were found to consume live eggs more slowly. This suggests that O. suberosus may be recycling organic material; however, its consumption of live eggs may be sufficient in some cases to interrupt the incubation period of the turtle. We intend to apply these results when making decisions regarding the L. olivacea nests on La Escobilla Beach, one of the most important sites for the conservation of this species.
在世界主要的海龟筑巢海滩之一，即墨西哥瓦哈卡州的埃斯科比利亚海滩上，已确认奥氏葬甲（Omorgus suberosus，法布尔于1775年命名）是蠵龟（Lepidochelys olivacea，埃施肖尔茨于1829年命名）卵的潜在捕食者。本研究分析了这种甲虫在该海滩的时空分布情况（在两个海龟上岸季节里蠵龟巢穴密度高和低的区域），并在实验室条件下评估了这种甲虫对海龟卵造成损害的可能性。在两种海龟巢穴密度情况下，奥氏葬甲的成虫和幼虫均呈现聚集分布模式；然而，在巢穴密度低的区域聚集程度更高，在这些区域我们发现受损卵的比例最高。此外，随着海龟在海滩上岸，成年甲虫的时间分布也存在波动。在实验室条件下，甲虫会迅速破坏死卵以及死活卵的混合物，但发现其消耗活卵的速度较慢。这表明奥氏葬甲可能在循环利用有机物质；然而，在某些情况下其对活卵的消耗可能足以中断海龟卵的孵化期。我们打算在就埃斯科比利亚海滩上蠵龟巢穴做出决策时应用这些研究结果，该海滩是蠵龟保护的最重要地点之一。
