Suvarna Khadakkar‡, Ashish D. Tiple§, Arun Khurad|Corresponding author: Suvarna Khadakkar ( suvarnask17@gmail.com ) © Suvarna Khadakkar, Ashish Tiple, Arun Khurad. This is an open access preprint distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Citation:
Khadakkar S, Tiple AD, Khurad A (2024) Description of developmental stages of Phyllognathus dionysius Fabricius, 1792 (Insecta: Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) with notes on biology from central India. ARPHA Preprints. https://doi.org/10.3897/arphapreprints.e142661 |  |
Detailed description of IIIrd Instar larva and pupa of Phyllognathus dionysius is described along with notes on biology and distribution. Beetles belonging to the family scarabaeidae are economically important as crop pests. Grubs of P. dionysius are polyphagous and known to feed on roots of Jowar, Bajra, Maize, Turmeric, Sugarcane and Paddy while adults are nocturnal in habit and feed on foliage of Ficus sp. For the study, grubs of P. dionysius were collected from dung pads from the Bor forest of Maharashtra, central India. Collected grubs were reared in rearing pots in the laboratory under optimum temperature and humidity. Our knowledge of developmental stages of scarabs lags behind our knowledge of the adults especially in the fields of morphology and taxonomy. In this study, we provide diagnostic characters for identification of the immature stages in brief. Biology of the species is described on the basis of its coprophagous behaviour. Life cycle of P. dionysius completed in 145-163 days with prepupal period of 24-36 hours and pupal period of 9-11 days.