LABOULBENIALES - Agentschap voor Natuur en Bos

Peyritschiella princeps (Thaxt.) I.I. Tav.Peyritschiella protea Thaxt.Rhadinomyces cristatus (Thaxt.)Rhadinomyces pallidus Thaxt.Symplectromyces vulgaris (Thaxt.) Thaxt.Philonthus politusAnotylus rugosusLathrobium brunnipes, castaneipenne, fulvipenne,geminumLathrobium brunnipesPhilonthus sp.Lathrobium brunnipes has been recorded several times in Belgium (C RÊVECOEURet al., 2004), also parasitized ones: infections with Euzodiomyces lathrobii andRhadinomyces cristatus (D E K ESEL & H AGHEBAERT , 1991; D E K ESEL , 1997). However,no Lathrobium brunnipes specimens infected with Rhadinomyces pallidushave yet been found in Belgium.Important to mention is that cadavers are ephemeral substrates (cfr. 1.2.2. T HE„ ROTTING ‟ OF A CADAVER ). The time for coleopterans to arrive at the cadaver,develop and form new generations is not long enough in order to form stablepopulations.The CDI (cfr. 1.2.2.3. The early decomposition) of the late decomposition stagedisplays increasing soil carbon and nutrients compared to the earlydecomposition stage. This CDI composition thus changes during the differentstages of the „rotting‟ of a cadaver. This effect may exacerbate the inability todevelop stable beetle populations. The species of beetles in the studied areasbelong to different phenology and generation groups, which means that thespecies composition is able to change during the different stages ofdecomposition. Species characteristic of the bloat stage are replaced byother species in the early decomposition and even others in the latedecomposition.A number of these coleopterans has also been observed in plant remains,rotting fruiting bodies of fungi, animal and human feces, decomposing wood,all ephemeral substrates. This is indeed the case for the species ofLaboulbeniales on carrion beetles reported by M AJEWSKI (2003).Carrion beetles have all kind of different habitats (see above), includinghibernation sites, suggesting the difficulty for Laboulbeniales to adapt tocarrion beetles, since Laboulbeniales have their own environmentalpreferences (DE KESEL, 1996).4.4. SPECIES WORTH MENTIONINGThe carrion beetle Necrodes littoralis has been suggested to occur upon acadaver for only a short time (VAN WIELINK, 2004). However, observations at theMeerdaal Forest are inconsistent with this hypothesis. Necrodes littoralis hasbeen recorded upon cadaver 4 in October 2003 (19 larvae) and July 2004 (1adult specimen). According to SCHILTHUIZEN & VALLENDUUK (1998) this speciesoccurs on cadavers of rabbit, dog, goat, deer, sheep, fish and chicken.The current research adds cadavers of pig to that list, regarding the records inthe Meerdaal Forest. The adults of Necrodes littoralis are nocturnal. Collectionof coleopterans happened during daylight, which can be the explanation ofthe fact that only one adult specimen was found upon cadaver 4.P a g e | 71