Biology of Bark and Ambrosia Beetles (Coleoptera: Scolytidae and Platypodidae) of a Tropical Rain Forest in Southeastern Mexico with an Annotated Checklist of Species

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Abstract
Feeding habits, degree of host specificity, and mating systems were examined for 83 species of Scolytidae and Platypodidae in a tropical rain forest in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Mexico. Neotropical genera dominate the fauna; most species have been found in Central America and northern South America. The dominant feeding habit was xylomycetophagy (60.2%) followed by phloeophagy (26.5%), a pattern observed in other humid tropical areas, but different from that observed in other Mexican communities. Most xylomycetophagous species were highly polyphagous; phloeophagous species were much more host-specific. Most common mating systems were monogyny (49.4%) and inbred polygyny (34.9%), the latter associated with a high degree of polyphagy. An annotated checklist of species is presented as appendix.