Mitochondrial genomes of two luminous beetles, Rhagophthalmus lufengensis and R-ohbai (Arthropoda, Insecta, Coleoptera)

We determined the mitochondrial MA (mtDNA) sequences of two luminous beetles (Arthropoda, Insecta, Coleoptera), Rhagophthalmus lufengensis from Yunnan, China and Rhagophthalmus ohbai from Yaeyama Island, Japan. We identified all the 37 mtDNA genes of R. l

Coupling between elytra of some beetles: Mechanism, forces and effect of surface texture

Lightweight materials, structures and coupling mechanisms are very important for realizing advanced flight vehicles. Here, we obtained the geometric structures and morphologies of the elytra of beetles and ascertained its coupling zone by using the histological section technique and SEM. We set up a three-dimensional motion observing system to monitor the opening and closing behaviour of elytra in beetles and to determine the motion mechanism. We constructed a force measuring system to measure the coupling forces between elytra. The results show that elytra open and close by rotating about a single axle, where the coupling forces may be as high as 160 times its own bodyweight, the elytra coupling with the tenon and mortise mechanism, surface texture and opening angle between elytra heavily influence the coupling forces. These results may provide insights into the design mechanism and structure for future vehicles of flight.

发光甲虫与生物荧光

生物荧光是活体生物自身可以发光的有趣生命现象.具有这一现象的生物存在于生物四界中,但目前关于这一现象的研究报道主要来自于昆虫,尤其是以萤火虫为代表的发光甲虫的研究.文章对发光甲虫的分类地位、生物荧光发生的原理、发光器官的类型、闪光的"开关"机制、生物荧光的生物学意义及其相关行为学研究进展等进行了详细介绍.此外,还简要提及了荧光生物及其荧光酶的应用.这对了解及探讨生物荧光现象、加强对中国的发光甲虫及其它发光生物的研究及保护利用具有一定的借鉴作用.

长白山北坡水甲虫的生物多样性研究

长白山地区为保护较为完善的原始森林区，物种丰富，因此被选为论文的研究区域.这里地处温带，气候寒冷，水甲虫种类分布有着一定的独特性.该项研究通过对不同海拔高度的不同水体中水甲虫的采样，研究了长白山北坡水甲虫的种类、生物多样性及其颁与环境因子的相关性.通过调查和研究，发现长白山水甲虫已记录的种类共有8科37属67种，其中占种群优势的是龙虱科和水龟虫科.同时，通过对文献的系统研究，发现中国有已记录的水甲虫共21科141属916种，比原记录601种（杨集昆，1994）多215种.在对长白山北坡水甲虫区系研究的同时，对生物多样性指数进行了分析，结果表明长白山北坡的水甲虫生物多样性各项指标均显示出该地区水甲虫物种较为丰富，物种均匀度高.在研究水甲虫的分布与环境因子的关系时发现，不同水体中环境因子对水甲虫分布的影响不同，活水水体中起主要作用的因子是植被密度和水流速度，静水水体中起主要作用的因子是海拔和腐殖化程度.