Sexual dimorphism of Zophobas morio (Fabricius, 1776) (Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae) in the pupa and adult stages

Abstract

     Zophobas morio, is a Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae, opaque black, robust and fast displacement. It is their larvae and not the adults, who are very useful in feeding animals such as fish, spiders, birds, reptiles, scorpions, amphibians and mammals, because of their high protein content. This is one of the reasons that justifies its importance and encourages its breeding for commercial and experimentation purposes. In several trials with this insect, it is necessary to form pairs of male and female, which can be done in both the pupa and adult stages. This work aims to show by means of images, the sexual dimorphism of Z. morio both in the pupa stage, and in the adult, with living and dead specimens. The dead adults were clarified in KOH at 10% to facilitate their observation. The images are descriptive photographs and by the didactic approach of research, two conceptual maps were developed to summarize by steps the work done and incentivize repeatability. Photographs of pupae and adults were taken with a stereoscopic Wild M7A microscope and a Panasonic Lumix digital camera, DMC-ZS20. It was obtained as a result of the observations, a noticeable difference in the shape of the genital papillae of the female pupa, with respect to those of the male. Likewise, by comparing the edge of the male adult's frontoclipeal region with that of the female, sexual dimorphism was clearly evident. The methodology used was quite successful in sexing the insect in two phases of its biological cycle. Thus, in addition to the existing taxonomic keys, this work is a photographic and didactic support useful in the identification of the species.