Dendroides Canadensis

''Dendroides canadensis'', the fire-colored beetle, is a species of fire-colored beetle in the family Pyrochroidae from southeastern Canada and the eastern and central United States. This beetle has both the adaptations of freezing tolerance and freezing susceptibility (supercooling).

Description

The adult ''Dendroides canadensis'' is from long. The head and elytra are black, while the thorax and legs are reddish-brown. The antennae are pectinate (comb-like), and the compound eyes are very large, being contiguous in the male and almost united in the female. The larvae are whitish grubs with light tan heads; their urogomphi (spines on the last segment) are not recurved but are relatively straight.

File:Fire-Colored Beetle Larva - Flickr - treegrow (9).jpg, Larva
File:Fire-Colored Beetle Pupa - Flickr - treegrow.jpg, Pupa

Distribution and habitat

''Dendroides canadensis'' is found in eastern North America, its range extending from Manitoba and Nova Scotia in Canada to Oklahoma and Florida in the United States. The adults are active at night, are attracted to lights, and can be found among foliage. The larvae live under the bark of the upper and side surfaces of fallen trees and branches.

Physiology

Native to Northern Indiana, this species has both the adaptations of freezing tolerance—that is, keeping body fluids above crystallization temperatures between —and freezing susceptibility (supercooling)—that is, surviving with ice in the body up to . This is the first known instance of overwintering by switching between the two mechanisms. In response to decreasing temperatures in the fall, ''D. canadensis'' larvae cease eating and drinking, and they evacuate the gut. In order to avoid mortality, other body fluids also need to remain liquid, and ''D. canadensis'' increases the antifreeze proteins in its hind-gut and primary urine at this time.

Its antifreeze molecules are similar to those used by the mealworm '' Tenebrio molitor'', but they are quite distinct from antifreeze molecules used by any known fishes. Multiple types of antifreeze in simultaneous use complement each other and enhance the process. These have been used in studies to help raise cold resistance in plant species.

References

Further reading

*
*
*
*

External links

*

Molecular sequence encoding the ''Dendroides canadensis'' antifreeze molecules

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2680664

Pyrochroidae
Beetles of North America
Beetles described in 1810
Taxa named by Pierre André Latreille
Articles created by Qbugbot