2013 Volume 16 Issue 2 Pages 104-112
Skins of pupa in two empty cocoons and a dead larva of Cetoniinae were found in a nest of crow that was collected from a telegraph pole. DNA samples were extracted from pupal cast-off skins left in the empty cocoons and a larval dead body for species identification of the insects, and from nest materials for the bird identification. COI region of mtDNA was examined for insect identification. DNA sequence of 779bp of PCR products, which was generated by using a universal primer set for Coleoptera, was determined by direct sequence method. Cytochrome b region of mtDNA was examined for bird identification. PCR products, which were generated by using species-specific primers for each Corvus macrorhynchos Wagler, C. corone Linnaeus and C. frugilegus Linnaeus with a common primer for all the three species, were applied to polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis for visualization of the product size. The results indicated all the cocoons and a dead larva were Anthracophora rusticola Burmeister, and the owner of a nest was C. corone. Two haplotypes of mtDNA were discriminated among three individuals of A. rusticola, indicating at least two female adults visited the nest for oviposition. Although larvae of A. rusticola were known to develop in large nests of carnivorous birds such as raptors by feeding on both of remnants of the birds' prey and decaying plant matter, we revealed they also used the nest of C. corone, which is omnivorous and builds a relatively small nest, as a reproductive resource.
