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Journal of Experimental Biology 90,109-114 (1981)
Published by Company of Biologists 1981

A Function of the Subelytral Chamber of Tenebrionid Beetles

C. N. SLOBODCHIKOFF ¹ and KIM WISMANN ¹

¹ Department of Biological Sciences, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff 86011

1. The subelytral chamber is an air space between the elytra and the dorsum of the abdomen of some Tenebrionid beetles. Postulated functions for the subelytral chamber have been a reduction of transpiratory water loss and a thermal buffer for heat flow from the elytra to the abdomen.

2. We show that there is a significant correlation between water loss and the depth of the subelytral chamber.

3. This implies that the chamber may be a structure that permits the rapid expansion of the abdomen, providing the beetles with a mechanism by which they can quickly drink large quantities of water from an ephemeral source such as a rain puddle. As the beetles drink, the abdomen greatly expands, and the chamber shrinks.