Immature stages of giants: morphology and growth characteristics ofGoliathusLamarck, 1801 larvae indicate a predatory way of life (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae, Cetoniinae).
The third larval instar ofGoliathus goliatus(Drury, 1770),Goliathus orientalisMoser, 1909 andGoliathus albosignatusBoheman, 1857 are described and illustrated for the first time and compared with the immature stages of other Cetoniinae. Larval development ofGoliathus goliatusis investigated under laboratory conditions, with particular emphasis on food requirements. These results support the obligatory requirement of proteins in the larval diet. The association between larval morphological traits (e. g., the shape of the mandibles and pretarsus, presence of well-developed stemmata) and larval biology is discussed. Based on observations and the data from captive breeds it is concluded that a possible shift from pure saprophagy to an obligatory predaceous way of larval life occurred within the larvae of this genus, which may explain why these beetles achieve such an enormous size.
Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Viničná 7, CZ-128 44 Praha 2, Czech Republic.
Tomáš
T
Vendl
Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Viničná 7, CZ-128 44 Praha 2, Czech Republic.
Petr
P
Šípek
Afrotropical region; Goliathus; captive breeding; growth trajectories; immature stages; larval development; nutrition shift; rose chafers