Mate Recognition Differences Among Allopatric Populations of the Scarab Canthon cyanellus cyanellus (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae)

Abstract We analyzed mate recognition and the cooperative behavior of male–female pairs in Canthon cyanellus cyanellus LeConte (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae), a carrion-feeding scarab, during food ball rolling among five populations found in tropical forest fragments on the eastern coastal plains of Mexico. Sexual recognition in this species is mostly mediated by chemical cues. Intrapopulation and male–female pairs formed with individual from populations 400 km apart showed no cooperative behavior (individual food ball rolling by one of the partners and fights), although they also rolled food balls together. In male–female pairs from the more distant populations (≥600 km apart), >50% fought for food balls. Brood ball production by females and the number of eclosed beetles from the northern population and from the crosses between individuals from the most distant populations ...