Elucidating food plants of the aggregative, synchronously flashing Southeast Asian firefly, Pteroptyx tener Olivier (Coleoptera, Lampyridae)

By

Cheng, Shawn
Chan, Kar-Men
Ishak, Shah-Fadir
Khoo, Veronica
Chew, Ming Yee

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2017

Original Publication

BioRisk : biodiversity & ecosystem risk assessment

Volume

12

Pages

25-39

Subjects

chloroplast DNA , Firefly , host , Plants , Pteroptyx tener

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/biorisk.12.14061

 

Abstract

The aggregative, synchronously flashing firefly, Pteroptyx tener congregates on a nightly basis on Berembang trees (Sonneratia caseolaris) growing along the lower reaches of the Selangor River (West Malaysia). Every night, the males and females of this species engage one another in a pre-mating ritual of flash communication. Little is known of the dietary requirements of the adults of P. tener apart from suggestions that these beetles feed on the nectar and sap of mangrove trees. The drastic reduction in their numbers in recent years has sparked an urgency to understand their dietary needs. Here, we report on a series of probing experiments where we sequenced and analysed DNA fragments obtained from the gut contents of adult P. tener specimens. We detected coding and non-coding chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) gene sequences in the gut DNA extracts of P. tener. One DNA sequence was in reasonably good condition to allow us to match it to the cpDNA sequence of a Malvacean, that is, Heritiera littoralis, a common inhabitant of estuarine habitats. We also detected the DNA sequences of plants (cultivated and natural) that may have come from hamlets or isolated freshwater swamps located further inland. The findings reported here provide early indication that P. tener may be able to travel further inland to search for their hosts. Future research should focus on visually confirming if P. tener feeds on H. littoralis and obtaining a more complete reference DNA database of plants in the firefly habitat.