Ancient associations of aquatic beetles and tank bromeliads in the Neotropical forest canopy.

ABSTRACT: Water reservoirs formed by the leaf axils of bromeliads are a highly derived system for nutrient and water capture that also house a diverse fauna of invertebrate specialists. Here we investigate the origin and specificity of bromeliad-associated insects using Copelatinae diving beetles (Dytiscidae). This group is widely distributed in small water bodies throughout tropical forests, but a subset of species encountered in bromeliad tanks is strictly specialized to this habitat. An extensive molecular phylogenetic analysis of Neotropical Copelatinae places these bromeliadicolous species in at least three clades nested within other Copelatus. One lineage is morphologically distinct, and its origin was estimated to reach back to 12-23 million years ago, comparable to the age of the tank habita

SUBMITTER: Balke M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2359786 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature