Note

Goniotropis kuntzeni Development

Wendy Moore and Andrea Di Giulio
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Egg

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A short movie of the newly hatched larva taking its first few steps: movie iconView Goniotropis kuntzeni egg and first instar larva

Approximately three weeks after this egg was laid, mandibles of the developing first instar larva are visible through the eggshell - a sign that in the next day or two the egg will hatch. Hardened ridges on the larva's head called egg bursters will help it to break through the shell.

First Instar

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Movie of the first instar larva building its burrow: movie iconView Goniotropis kuntzeni first instar larva. Notice how the terminal disk can open and close.

Two days after hatching the head of the larva has hardened and darkened in a process known as sclerotization. The larva lives in a burrow which it builds and closes off with its terminal disk. It uses the moveable components of the terminal disk to capture living insect prey which it brings into its burrow to consume.

Molting

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Movie: movie iconView Goniotropis kuntzeni molting

Appoximately 50 days after hatching, the first instar sheds its skin, or cuticle, in a process known as molting. The cuticle of the first instar cracks along the dorsal surface and the second instar larva emerges from that fracture. First the head breaks free and then, after approximately a 10 minute struggle, the larva is able to shed the old cuticle from the terminal disk.

Second Instar

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Movie of the second instar larva walking: movie iconView Goniotropis kuntzeni second instar larva. Notice how the larva holds its terminal disk up and over its back.

Two days after hatching, the head of the second instar larva has hardened and darkened via sclerotization.

Third Instar

The second instar larva will molt one more time to become a third instar larva. The third instar then becomes a pupa.

Pupa

During the pupal stage the beetle uses nutrients acquired during the larval instars and transforms from a larva into an adult.

Adult

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This is an adult Goniotropis kuntzeni male. The females of this species look very similar. The males and females mate, the female lays her eggs, and the process begins again.

References

Moore, W. and A. Di Giulio. 2006. Description and behaviour of Goniotropis kuntzeni larvae (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Paussinae: Ozaenini) and a genus-level key to Paussinae larvae. Zootaxa 1111:1-19.

About This Page

Wendy Moore
University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA


Università degli Studi "Roma Tre", Roma, Italy

Page: Tree of Life Goniotropis kuntzeni Development Authored by Wendy Moore and Andrea Di Giulio. The TEXT of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License - Version 3.0. Note that images and other media featured on this page are each governed by their own license, and they may or may not be available for reuse. Click on an image or a media link to access the media data window, which provides the relevant licensing information. For the general terms and conditions of ToL material reuse and redistribution, please see the Tree of Life Copyright Policies.

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