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Maternally inherited architecture in tertiary leaf beetles: paleoichnology of cryptocephaline fecal cases in Dominican and Baltic amber

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Abstract

Complex ethological adaptations and intraspecific interactions leave few fossil traces. We document three Dominican (20 million years old [myo]) and Baltic (45 myo) amber fossils that exhibit firm evidence of highly integrated interactions between mothers and offspring in the diverse camptosomate lineage of beetles (Chrysomelidae, leaf beetles). As in contemporary species, these hard cases were initially constructed by mothers, then inherited and retained by offspring, which then elaborate this protective domicile with an unusual but economical building material, their feces. The three fossils are classified in the Subfamily Cryptocephalinae; two are classified in the tribe Chlamisini based on morphological evidence—the flattened head lacking a sharp keel and long legs with simple recurved untoothed claws. These diagnostic features are not clearly visible in the third specimen to permit more refined identification. These fossils provide more precise paleontological dating of tribal nodes within the cryptocephaline radiation of leaf beetles. These fossils are the first and earliest evidence of mother–offspring interaction, building behavior, and fecal recycling in Camptosomata beetles and of inheritance of architectural structures in beetles.

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Acknowledgments

We thank D.A. Grimaldi and A.S. Konstantinov for bringing the Dominican and Baltic amber specimens respectively to our attention; and Christopher Brown and Vivian Flinte for use of two images. Partial support was provided by National Science Foundation grant DEB-0741745 (to S. Chatzimanolis and M.S. Engel). This is a contribution of the Division of Entomology, University of Kansas Natural History Museum.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Entomology, Natural History Museum, University of Kansas, 1501 Crestline Drive, Suite 140, Lawrence, KS, 66049-2811, USA

    Caroline S. Chaboo & Michael S. Engel

  2. Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, 1501 Crestline Drive, Suite 140, Lawrence, KS, 66049-2811, USA

    Caroline S. Chaboo & Michael S. Engel

  3. Department of Entomology, University of Minnesota, 219 Hodson Hall, 1980 Folwell Avenue, St. Paul, MN, 55108, USA

    Maria Lourdes Chamorro-Lacayo

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  1. Caroline S. Chaboo
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  2. Michael S. Engel
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  3. Maria Lourdes Chamorro-Lacayo
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Correspondence to Caroline S. Chaboo.

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Chaboo, C.S., Engel, M.S. & Chamorro-Lacayo, M.L. Maternally inherited architecture in tertiary leaf beetles: paleoichnology of cryptocephaline fecal cases in Dominican and Baltic amber. Naturwissenschaften 96, 1121–1126 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-009-0573-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-009-0573-2

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