the cucujidae , " flat bark beetles , " are a family of distinctively flat beetles found worldwide ( except africa and antarctica ) under the bark of dead trees .

the family has received considerable taxonomic attention in recent years and now consists of 59 species distributed in four genera .

included genera are : cucujus fabricius , with 14 species and subspecies distributed throughout the holarctic ; palaestes perty , 8 spp. , neotropical ; pediacus shuckard , 31 spp. , mostly holarctic , but extending south into the neotropics and to australia ; and platisus erichson , 5 spp. in australia and new zealand .

cucujidae have elongate parallel-side bodies ranging from 6 to 25 mm in length .

most are brown colored , while others are black , reddish or yellow .

heads are triangular in shape , with filiform to moniliform antennae of 11 antennomeres , and large mandibles .

the pronotum is narrower than the head .

both larvae and adults live under bark , otherwise little is known of their habits .

larvae appear to be predacious the family was formerly larger , with subfamilies laemophloeinae , silvaninae , and passandrinae ( and some tenebrionoid genera mixed in ) , but recent revisions have raised the subfamilies to family status .

cucujidae

kento furui added the japanese common name
ヒラタムシ科
to
cucujidae
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kari pihlaviita added the finnish common name
häröt
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cucujidae
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a preliminary checklist of the flat bark beetles of the world ( family cucujidae ( s . str . )
tree of life web project . 2005 . cucujidae . flat bark beetles . version 01 january 2005 ( temporary ) .
what made you want to look up cucujidae ? please tell us where you read or heard it ( including the quote , if possible ) .
; lateral margins of pronotum unevenly denticulate ; pronotum with dorsal impressions ; front coxal cavity with lateral extension exposing trochantin ; aedeagus inverted with articulated parameres . the hindwing venation is not inconsistent with the intergeneric variation found in cucujidae (
sformo t , walters k , jeannet k , wowk b , fahy gm , barnes bm , duman jg . deep supercooling , vitrification and limited survival to −100°c in the alaskan beetle cucujus clavipes puniceus ( coleoptera : cucujidae ) larvae . j exp biol 213 : 502‐509 , 2010 .
thomas , m . c . 2002 . cucujidae . pp . 329 - 330 in arnett , r . h . , jr . , m . c . thomas , p . e . skelley and j . h . frank . ( eds . ) . american beetles . volume 2 . polyphaga : scarabaeoidea through curculionoidea . crc press llc , boca raton , fl . xiv + 861 pp .
larvae of the freeze - avoiding beetle cucujus clavipes puniceus ( coleoptera : cucujidae ) in alaska have mean supercooling points in winter of –35 to –42°c , with the lowest supercooling point recorded for an individual of –58°c . we previously noted that some larvae did not freeze when cooled to –80°c , and we speculated that these larvae vitrified . here we present evidence through differential scanning calorimetry that c . c . puniceus larvae transition into a glass - like state at temperatures < –58°c and can avoid freezing to at least –150°c . this novel finding adds vitrification to the list of insect overwintering strategies . while overwintering beneath the bark of fallen trees , c . c . puniceus larvae may experience low ambient temperatures of around –40°c ( and lower ) when microhabitat is un - insulated because of low snow cover . decreasing temperatures in winter are correlated with loss of body water from summer high levels near 2 . 0 to winter lows near 0 . 4 mg mg –1 dry mass and concomitant increases in glycerol concentrations ( 4–6 mol l –1 ) and thermal hysteresis . finally , we provide direct evidence that cucujus from wiseman , alaska , survive temperatures to –100°c .
as we pull on winter coats and wool hats to shield our tropical bodies from the cold , there is a creature in our midst that survives alaska ' s coldest temperatures bare - naked . the red flat bark beetle lives as far north as there are balsam poplar trees in alaska , hunkering down for the winter in the moist area between dead bark and tree . scientists like todd sformo , from the university of alaska ' s institute of arctic biology , find most of them in the larval stage , where they resemble segmented worms a bit longer than a grain of rice . he finds a smaller number of adults that have handsome segmented bodies the color of teak .
larvae of the red flat bark beetle hibernating on ice . photo by jack duman , university of notre dame .
the beetles are special among living things in alaska because they have the ability to spend the winter above the snow , exposed to the coldest air of winter . sformo , a graduate student working in professor brian barnes ' lab , has cooled the beetles to minus 94 degrees fahrenheit ( minus 70 degrees celsius ) in the lab , and they have not died . yellowjackets , stinkbugs , and other insects that survive winter using the same strategy , known as supercooling , perish at about minus 13 degrees fahrenheit ( minus 25 degrees celsius ) .
they really have to be under that leaf litter and under the snow ( for insulation from the cold air ) ,
sformo said .
how cold can the bark beetles get ? sformo shipped a few of the beetles to a lab in california to find out . the owner of the lab lowered the beetles to a temperature of about 238 degrees below zero ( minus 150 degrees celsius ) , and they didn ' t freeze . the lowest temperature recorded on earth was minus 129 degrees fahrenheit recorded in antarctica in 1983 . alaska ' s all - time low is minus 80 degrees fahrenheit at prospect creek , off the dalton highway in 1971 .
under the right conditions , these things don ' t freeze , even when you get down to unearthly temperatures ,
sformo said .
the adult and larva versions of the red flat bark beetle , one of the hardiest organisms in alaska . ned rozell photo .
the beetles survive by being one of the most successful northern practitioners of supercooling , where they are able to resist freezing by combining a few unique talents . beginning in august , they begin to produce antifreeze proteins that bind to sites where ice might form . later in the fall , they produce glycerol that drives their freezing point down as antifreeze does in a car , and , finally , they begin to lose water in their bodies .
sformo and colleagues at the university of notre dame also have studied another alaska beetle that ' s nearly as good in the cold as the flat bark beetle . the larger beetle upis ceramboides , which has no common name , survives the winter in dry crevices in trees . unlike the flat bark beetle , the upis beetle tolerates freezing rather than avoiding it . sformo found that the upis beetles froze at about 18 . 5 degrees fahrenheit ( minus 7 . 5 degrees celsius ) in the lab and survived temperatures down to about 104 degrees below zero ( minus 76 degrees celsius ) .
using opposite strategies , we have two beetles that can survive to the minus 70s ( celsius ) ,
he said .
the upis beetles have the ability to force water outside their cells , where it freezes without puncturing cell membranes . they seek out dry places to spend the winter , which makes the contrasting choice of the red flat bark beetles to crawl under moist bark seem remarkable , sformo said . the bodies of red flat beetles often are stuck to ice , the best substance known to trigger freezing .
these insects , in winter , are in direct contact with ice crystals , for months ,
he said .
you can ' t get a better nucleator than that .
the proteins created by the red flat bark beetle fascinate scientists because they are ingredients of an all - natural antifreeze liquid , a version of which might someday be used to cool human organs to preserve them . other applications that might be teased from the secrets of alaska ' s beetles are a non - toxic de - icing solution for aircraft , a concrete that builders can pour in the cold , or an ingredient that would prevent the re - crystallization of ice cream , which makes large crystals form inside an open pint .
this column is provided as a public service by the geophysical institute , university of alaska fairbanks , in cooperation with the uaf research community . ned rozell [ nrozell @ urltoken ] is a science writer at the institute .
the red flat bark beetle , cucujus clavipes , has a broad latitudinal range in north america that extends from above the arctic circle ( ∼68°n ) to north carolina ( ∼35°n ) , and exists as a western subspecies ( c . c . puniceus mannerheim ) that occurs from alaska to the pacific coast and as an eastern subspecies ( c . c . clavipes fabricius ) that extends east from the great plains ( thomas , 2002 ) . consequently , investigations of this species present an opportunity to study insect overwintering physiology over a large latitudinal expanse including interior alaska , one of the coldest environments in north america .
insects that overwinter in freezing regions survive either by being freeze tolerant ( able to survive the freezing of their extra - cellular water ) or freeze avoiding ( zachariassen , 1985 ; bale , 1987 ; storey and storey , 1988 ; block , 1990 ; danks , 1991 ; duman et al . , 1991 ; lee and denlinger , 1991 ) , and , in one case , simultaneously freeze tolerant and avoiding ( sformo et al . , 2009 ) . insects , and certain other terrestrial arthropods such as collembola , avoid freezing by use of combinations of molar concentrations of cryoprotectant polyols such as glycerol , antifreeze proteins ( duman , 2001 ) , removal and / or masking of ice nucleators ( neven et al . , 1986 ; duman , 2001 ) , and / or dehydration ( rickards et al . , 1987 ; lundheim and zachariassen , 1993 ; worland , 1996 ; holmstrup and sömme , 1998 ; worland et al . , 1998 ; danks , 2000 ; block , 2003 ; worland and block , 2003 ) . some collembola and earthworm cocoons ( holmstrup et al . , 2002 ) and the antarctic midge belgica antarctica ( elnitsky et al . , 2008 ) cryoprotectively undergo extreme water loss by dehydrating until they are in vapor pressure equilibrium with surrounding ice and therefore do not freeze .
overwintering adaptations are exaggerated in insects from arctic and subarctic regions , where temperatures can reach below –60°c ( danks , 1981 ; miller , 1982 ; ring , 1982 ; sömme and block , 1991 ) . alaska populations of c . c . puniceus larvae are known to be freeze avoiding and routinely supercool to group means near –40°c , with individuals supercooling to as low as –58°c ( bennett et al . , 2005 ) ; in some cases larvae did not freeze when cooled to –80°c in that study . this level of supercooling appeared irregularly among larvae collected near fairbanks , ak ( 64°72′n ) but appeared more often in larvae collected further north near wiseman , ak ( 67°37′n ) in late november to march . in that study , factors identified as contributing to the ability of c . c . puniceus to supercool to low temperatures were production of antifreeze proteins ( afps ) , accumulation of glycerol , diapause ( reduced metabolism in winter ) and extensive dehydration . in contrast to the alaskan c . c . puniceus , c . c . clavipes larvae from northern indiana ( 41°45′n ) show mean winter supercooling points ( scps ) of –23°c and do not dehydrate or diapause in winter ( bennett et al . , 2005 ) .
dehydration contributes to the ability to supercool to low temperatures in alaskan c . c . puniceus , in part , by causing the concentrations of afps and glycerol to increase ( by as much as fivefold ) over the levels synthesized prior to dehydration , and by decreasing the amount of water in the insect that is available for freezing ( bennett et al . , 2005 ) . antifreeze proteins can mask ice nucleators and also inhibit inoculative freezing initiated by external ice in contact with the cuticle . afps enhance supercooling by both these mechanisms in larvae of the beetle dendroides canadensis ( olsen et al . , 1998 ; olsen and duman , 1997a ; olsen and duman , 1997b ; duman , 2002 ) . c . c . puniceus produce a family of afps that are similar but not identical to those of d . canadensis ( duman et al . , 1998 ; duman et al . , 2004 ; andorfer and duman , 2000 ) . the extreme desiccation of c . c . puniceus makes it impossible to sample hemolymph from animals in mid - winter . however , when hemolymph was collected in the autumn ( after afps and glycerol had been produced , but prior to dehydration ) and then concentrated 3 . 2 - fold to reflect a level of dehydration near that of winter larvae , the concentrated hemolymph exhibited nearly 13°c of thermal hysteresis ( bennett et al . , 2005 ) . this is the highest thermal hysteresis ever measured in association with any organism . thermal hysteresis activity ( tha ) is the difference between the freezing and melting points of the sample and reflects the amount of depression of the freezing point caused by the afp , in the presence of ice , below the melting point ( devries , 1986 ) . however , the level of protection afforded to whole insects by afps generally greatly exceeds the magnitude of tha that can be measured in the hemolymph ( zachariassen and husby , 1982 ; olsen et al . , 1998 ; duman , 2001 ; duman , 2002 ; duman et al . , 2004 ) . consequently , the protection provided by afps in c . c . puniceus larvae is probably much greater than even the level of tha demonstrated in the concentrated hemolymph .
while a few northern or alpine insects have been shown to have supercooling points of –40 to –60°c , not much is known about the mechanisms that contribute to this . three freeze - avoiding alaskan and canadian rocky mountain species that overwinter in willow galls in exposed branches were found to have mean scps of –56 to –58°c , with individual scps to –63°c ( miller and warner , 1987 ; miller , 1982 ; ring and tesar , 1980 ) . mean scps of –54°c have been reported in larvae of the beetle pytho deplanatus that overwinter under the bark of fallen spruce trees in the canadian rockies ( ring , 1982 ) . these levels of freeze avoidance have been attributed to high concentrations of polyols and removal of ice nucleators and are described as extreme or deep supercooling . this paper examines the deep supercooling capacity , defined as cooling to below –58°c without freezing , of c . c . puniceus larvae in alaska . we examine correlations among body water , glycerol concentration , thermal hysteresis and ambient temperature to identify physiological and abiotic factors associated with deep supercooling . we demonstrate that c . c . puniceus larvae can avoid freezing at temperatures down to –150°c , their body water vitrifies ( turns to glass ) at a mean temperature of approximately –76°c , and larvae can survive exposure to –100°c .
we collected c . c . puniceus larvae from under the bark of standing dead poplar spp . trees near wiseman and fairbanks , ak , each september in 2005 to 2007 . larvae were placed in plastic food storage containers ( 20 cm×15 cm×10 cm ; 20–150 per box ) perforated for gas exchange , along with moist bark from their host trees . insects were left to acclimatize to local winter conditions by placing the containers either on the ground or suspended ( so as not to be covered by snow ) for 1–4 months either in undisturbed wooded areas on the university of alaska fairbanks campus or near wiseman , alaska . air and microhabitat temperatures at these overwintering locations were monitored using hobo pro series data loggers and downloaded with boxcar pro 4 software ( onset computer corporation , bourne , ma , usa ) .
insects were recovered from containers at different times in winter and brought into the laboratory at the institute of arctic biology in fairbanks to determine the supercooling point ( scp ) and water content . insects retrieved from wiseman were kept at –18 to –20°c during transport to fairbanks and tested within 9 h . larvae were tested for individual scp by placing a thermocouple junction ( copper–constantan , 36 gauge ) against their body in a 0 . 6 ml plastic tube . thermocouple leads , monitoring up to 16 larvae at a time , were attached to a computer - controlled multi - channel thermocouple thermometer ( iso - thermex , columbus instruments , columbus , oh , usa ) that recorded temperature every 5 s . closed tubes were placed inside a 500 ml glass beaker that was covered and mostly submerged in an alcohol–water cooling bath . once the temperature of the insects equilibrated to 0°c , bath temperature was reduced at 0 . 2°c min –1 , typically to –60 to –70°c . before and after supercooling runs were performed , each thermocouple attachment was visually inspected to ensure that the thermocouple junction was in direct contact with the insect . the lowest body temperature recorded at the release of the latent heat of fusion , as evidenced by an exotherm in the temperature recording , was recorded as the scp , and since c . c . puniceus is a freeze - sensitive insect ( bennett et al . , 2005 ) , the scp is also the lower lethal temperature . larvae that did not exhibit an exotherm when cooled to –60°c or lower were recorded as deep supercooling .
individual larvae were weighed to the nearest 0 . 1 mg and then dried at 60°c ( 48 h ) to constant mass . absolute body water content ( wc ) was calculated as mg water mg –1 dry mass ( rojas et al . , 1986 ; hadley , 1994 ) .
individuals were randomly chosen from those sampled during the 2005 and 2006 field seasons and , based on supercooling point determinations , categorized as freezing ( exotherm present ) or deep supercooling . fresh and dry mass ( nearest 0 . 1 mg ) were recorded , and individuals were homogenized in distilled water at a 1 : 1000 dilution . samples were centrifuged and the supernatant removed . sub - samples of 20 μl were removed and further diluted by a factor of ten and analyzed for glycerol content using the boehringer–mannheim ( marshall , mi , usa ) glycerol kit . this method measures the amount of nadh oxidized to nad + that is stoichiometrically proportional to the initial glycerol concentration of the sample . the glycerol concentration of each individual was calculated based on the glycerol determination and the body water content , assuming equal distribution of glycerol . glycerol standards were run to check the accuracy of the procedure .
in winter , hemolymph cannot be sampled because of the dehydrated state of insects . consequently , to compare thermal hysteresis activities homogenates of larvae were prepared . dry larvae were homogenized in a volume of water equal to 100 times the body water . this solution was further diluted 1 : 7 with 40 mmol l –1 phosphate buffer ( ph 7 . 5 ) and sub - samples were tested for thermal hysteresis using a clifton nanoliter osmometer ( clifton technical physics , hartford , ny , usa ) ( chakrabartty and hew , 1991 ) . a micrometer syringe delivered 25–100 nl of sample into heavy mineral oil located in the sample well of the osmometer . the sample was initially frozen by cooling to –40°c and then warmed until a single small ice crystal remained . temperatures were increased by 0 . 01–0 . 02°c until the crystal disappeared , as assessed visually , thus determining the melting point temperature . this routine was repeated at temperatures below the melting point with a single small crystal present and the temperature was slowly lowered until the crystal grew ; this is the freezing point temperature .
differential scanning calorimetry ( dsc ) is a technique used to measure the change in heat capacity that is indicative of transitions to or from a vitrified or glassy state . the phase transition of a liquid to a vitreous state occurs at the glass transition temperature . to determine the glass transition temperature , an insect is sealed in an aluminum sample pan within a chamber that also contains a reference pan with no insect present . the two pans are heated and cooled to maintain equivalent temperatures . this requires differential heating and cooling due to the presence of the insect . by monitoring heat flow and change in temperature over time , the heat capacity is measured . when a liquid transitions to a vitreous condition , there is solidification with a concomitant change in heat capacity but without release of the latent heat of crystallization ( fahy , 1995 ) .
when supercooling tests demonstrated that larvae retrieved from the field could deep supercool to –70°c , additional individuals from a second collection container were shipped on dry ice to 21st century medicine in fontana , ca , usa . there , a perkin - elmer dsc 7 with pyris software tested for vitrification of insects through differential scanning calorimetry . the temperature scale of the instrument was calibrated by measuring the onset of the crystal transition of cyclohexane at –87 . 06°c and the temperature when ice water melts while warming at 1°c min –1 . heat flow was calibrated by measuring the area under the melting curve of a known mass of water ice . four larvae of approximately 10 mg mass each were folded and sealed in individual aluminum sample pans ( perkin - elmer part no . 0219 - 0062 ) . then each larva was cooled from + 10 to –150°c at a rate of 1°c min –1 and then warmed to + 10°c at a rate of 40°c min –1 . thermograms obtained at this high warming rate provided high sensitivity to detect small phase transitions . additionally , each sample was cooled to –150°c at a rate of 100°c min –1 , and thermograms were obtained during warming to + 10°c at 5°c or 10°c min –1 . three smaller larvae ( < 2 mg ) that deep supercooled were tested separately by cooling from + 10°c to –150°c at a rate of 10°c min –1 and then warming back to + 10°c at 10°c min –1 .
in winter 2005–2006 , if a majority of insects taken from the outdoor enclosure on a specific date did not freeze when cooled to below –60°c , additional insects from the same group were cooled in plastic tubes at 1°c min –1 to –80 or –100°c . insects in this second trial that did not display an exotherm were warmed at the same rate to –16°c and placed back into the container onto cold ( –18°c ) bark either in a plastic bag ( n = 12 ) or not ( n = 33 ) . containers were then returned to the outdoor enclosure and replaced under snow . on 1st may , containers were warmed to 20°c , and insects were assessed for survival and activity over a 1 - week period . in winter 2007–2008 , after larvae from the field containers exhibited deep supercooling , whole containers with larvae on bark and within plastic bags were cooled at 1°c min –1 to –80 or –100°c before being returned to the field , and larvae were checked for survival in april .
normally distributed data ( shapiro–wilk test , p > 0 . 05 ) were compared by t - test or tukey–kramer for multiple comparison ; non - normally distributed data were compared with a mann–whitney and χ 2 - tests ( sas 9 . 1 , sas institute , inc ) . unless otherwise noted , values are presented as mean ± s . e . m . to assess association , the spearman rank correlation test was used with averaged rank used for tied observations . since winter values for mean scps and body water content of larvae collected in wiseman and held either in wiseman or fairbanks did not differ ( mann–whitney , p > 0 . 2 ) , these data were combined and are collectively referred to as the wiseman population .
below freezing temperatures began in mid - august in wiseman and in mid - september in fairbanks and extended to mid - april in fairbanks and mid - may in wiseman [ see bennett et al . ( bennett et al . , 2005 ) for more detail of conditions at these two sites ] . although air temperatures regularly decreased to lower than –40°c , insulating snow cover resulted in minimum ground temperatures typically near –20°c in both locations . in wiseman during 2006–2007 , however , low snow cover resulted in similar conditions below and above the snow for much of the winter ( fig . 1 ) . on 7th january 2007 , for example , above - snow temperature was –43°c and below - snow temperature was –40°c . in summer , there were several transient cold snaps in wiseman including on 4th june 2006 when ambient temperatures reached near –5°c . in fig . 2 above - and below - snow temperatures are presented for fairbanks from october to april 2005–2006 and 2007–2008 .
changes in scp , wc and ambient temperature over three overwintering seasons showed generally the same trends ( fig . 2 and positive correlations table 1 ; note that these data do not include larvae that deep supercooled and did not freeze ) . as ambient temperatures decreased between summer and autumn , mean supercooling points determined in cucujus larvae collected from fairbanks and wiseman populations declined by 20°c from values as high as –7 . 0°c and by a further 6–7°c between autumn and winter to average seasonal minima of approximately –37°c ( table 1 ) . the lowest individual scp was –54 . 3°c . body water content of larvae also decreased between summer and winter from 2 . 1 to 0 . 8 mg mg dry mass –1 ( averages combined for both locations ; table 1 ) . associations between scps and wcs by season and location are reported as correlation coefficients ( table 1 ) , and , except for the summer wiseman value , all are significant ( p < 0 . 0001 ) . results restricted to dates when both freezing and deep supercooling occurred in the same experimental run indicate that variation in water content of fairbanks larvae explained approximately 24 % of the variation in scp ( p < 0 . 001 , ρ = 0 . 4976 , n = 175 ) . for wiseman larvae , water content explained approximately 41 % of the variation in scp ( p < 0 . 001 , ρ = 0 . 6393 , n = 202 ) . overall , mean scps decreased with mean wc , when values from insects collected at both sites throughout the study are compared ( fig . 3 ) .
above - and below - snow temperatures ( black and red lines , respectively ) at wiseman in october 2006 to may 2007 . these data show the similarity between above - and below - snow temperatures as a result of the lack of snow accumulation .
above - and below - snow temperatures ( black and red lines , respectively ) at fairbanks , and supercooling points ( blue ovals ) and water content ( red ovals ) of wiseman larvae held in fairbanks from october 2005 to may 2006 and october 2007 to may 2008 . on some dates , larvae deep supercooled ( did not freeze ) , and these are not displayed . supercooling point and water content values are means ± s . e . m .
over half ( 111 of 210 ; 52 . 8 % ) of the cucujus larvae from the wiseman population did not exhibit an exotherm when cooled to between –60 and –70°c during november to february in 2005–2008 ( table 2 ) . over half ( 84 of 165 ; 50 . 9 % ) of the larvae from the fairbanks population also did not exhibit an exotherm when cooled to between –60 to –70°c during december to march in 2005–2008 ( table 2 ) . we refer to this result as deep supercooling , and we believe these individuals entered a stable , non - crystalline , glass - like state . when individuals from fairbanks and wiseman were tested on the same day during december to february 2007 , 18 of 26 ( 69 . 2 % ) fairbanks individuals and 11 of 34 ( 32 . 3 % ) wiseman insects deep supercooled ( χ 2 = 2 . 74 ; d . f . = 1 , p = 0 . 09 ) . there was no significant difference ( p > 0 . 05 , tukey–kramer adjustment for multiple comparisons test ) between wc of individuals that deep supercooled between populations : fairbanks wc was 0 . 4±0 . 02 , n = 52 ( winter ) , and wiseman wc was 0 . 3±0 . 02 , n = 32 ( autumn ) and 0 . 4±0 . 02 , n = 59 ( winter ) .
compared with larvae that froze , individuals that deep supercooled had half of the water content , a 1 . 57 - fold greater concentration of glycerol , and a 1 . 16 - fold greater level of thermal hysteresis ( table 3 ) , all statistically significant differences .
no evidence of the formation of ice in deep supercooled c . c . puniceus larvae was observed by differential scanning calorimetry when larvae were cooled to –150°c at all cooling and warming rates studied . the most sensitive test used for detection of freezing events was cooling at 1°c min –1 , followed by warming at 40°c min –1 . the rapid warming rate increases detection sensitivity for melting peaks because a faster warming rate requires larger heat flow , helping raise small heat flow changes above the noise level ( saunders et al . , 2004 ) . in the experience of one of the authors ( b . w . ) , the detection sensitivity of the instrument analysis software at this warming rate is approximately 0 . 05 j g –1 , corresponding to a mass of ice equal to 0 . 015 % the sample mass .
thermograms ( change in heat capacity as a function of temperature ) obtained during warming of four large larvae at 40°c min –1 show a large change in heat capacity within a narrow temperature range that indicates a transition to glass ( fig . 4 ) . glass transition or vitrification temperatures , indicated as the thermogram inflection point , while warming at 5°c min –1 , are presented in table 4 . two large larvae showed a small glass transition near –97±1°c followed by a larger transition near –70°c . all four of the large larvae showed a consistent large glass transition at –76±1°c . the three small larvae ( 1 . 7–3 . 3 mg ) showed higher and more variable glass transition temperatures . in addition , the glass transitions appeared at the same temperature ( accounting for a few degrees scanning lag ) whether scanning up or down ( warming or cooling ) through the glass transition .
mean supercooling points and water content ( mean ± s . e . m . ) of larvae from fairbanks ( blue triangles ) and wiseman ( red circles ) . data are from november to february trials , when individuals were also capable of deep supercooling ( no exotherm < –60 to –70°c ) ; however , these deep supercooling larvae are not included in these data .
the glass transition temperature of aqueous solutions in general increases with increasing solute concentration , and the higher glass transition temperature of the smaller larvae suggests the possibility of greater drying due to their greater surface - area - to - volume ratio ; furthermore , the two separate glass transitions seen in some animals are indicative of two separate fluid compartments , one with a higher water concentration that undergoes a glass transition at a lower temperature , and one with a lower water concentration that transitions at a higher temperature .
survivorship ( in 2005–2006 ) of larvae from fairbanks and wiseman left below - snow to overwinter was 93 % and 92 % , respectively , when assessed in the spring of each year . in 2007–2008 , fairbanks and wiseman individuals maintained above the snow in fairbanks showed 57 % and 80 % survival , respectively , whereas 90 % of below - snow individuals survived in both groups .
thermograms of larvae studied by dsc at a warming rate of 40°c min –1 . the thermogram heat flows are normalized to specific heat capacity units . the starting point on the vertical scale for each thermogram is arbitrary . two of the four larvae exhibited a double glass transition .
on 18th january 2006 , larvae ( n = 16 ) from wiseman held in fairbanks were cooled in contact with individual thermocouples to –72°c at 1°c min –1 . no exotherms occurred . twelve of these were placed on bark , sealed in a plastic bag , and returned to the outside enclosure . on 1st may 2006 , 6 of twelve were alive . on 20th december 2007 half of wiseman larvae retrieved from the outdoor enclosure ( n = 8 ) deep supercooled and half froze when cooled to –71°c . the next day , 41 additional larvae were retrieved from the same enclosure and cooled to –100°c at 1°c min –1 . these larvae were held below –58°c ( the lowest exotherm temperature we have measured ) for approximately 84 min . after reaching –100°c , they were warmed at 1°c min –1 to approximately –25°c and then returned to the enclosure , as above . on 7th april 2008 , 3 of the 41 larvae were alive . no other insects ( n = 138 ) survived deep supercooling from –70°c to –100°c . note that we have not yet directly shown that specimens found to vitrify , based on differential scanning calorimetry , are alive after rewarming , but our data appear to be compatible with the possibility of such a demonstration in the future .
this study provides the first evidence of an insect avoiding freezing in extreme low temperatures by entering a stable , non - crystalline vitreous condition that is , at least in some individuals , survivable . differential scanning calorimetry of rapidly cooled individuals reflected vitrification ( glass transition ) at temperatures as high as –58°c . this vitrified fluid is well - protected against freezing , showing no detectable tendency to form ice . the fact that these larvae can vitrify , however , does not mean that all survive these low temperatures . half of the larvae cooled to between –70°c and –73°c survived , whereas only 7 % of those cooled to –100°c survived . one possible reason for the lower survivorship between –70°c and –100°c may have to do with our method of transporting larvae from the enclosure to the low temperature bath and back to the enclosure . larvae were deposited in an outside enclosure in september and were typically retrieved for testing when ambient conditions were less than –20°c ( late november to march ) . many of the containers that held the insects were frozen to the ground . to retrieve insects , the containers had to be forcefully removed . this jostling may cause already supercooled insects to nucleate or become mechanically damaged and thus be a source of mortality . similar manipulations and rapid temperature changes in the laboratory also may be damaging .
fairbanks and wiseman , locations in interior alaska , provide excellent low temperature settings to examine extreme overwintering physiology of insects . both locations have some of the coldest environments in north america with official recordings of –52°c in fairbanks in 1962 and –62°c in 1971 at prospect creek camp ( schulski and wendler , 2007 ) 87 km south of wiseman and approximately 107 km south of the northern limit of c . c . puniceus . these minima are probably an under representation of temperatures that c . c . puniceus as a species have experienced , both historically and in recent years . unofficial evidence suggests that temperatures a little below –60°c have recently been reached in the wiseman area . this is low enough to expose c . c . puniceus to their highest glass transition temperature as recorded in the present study . low ambient temperatures are usually buffered by an insulating layer of snow ; however , there are years when snow cover is minimal , resulting in below - snow temperatures that are comparable to above - snow temperatures ( fig . 1 ) .
regardless of location , supercooled c . c . punicius larvae were regularly found in direct contact with ice crystals for months at a time and at low temperatures ( bennett et al . , 2005 ) . since larvae were found not to be at increased risk of inoculative freezing ( bennett et al . , 2005 ) , direct ice contact and low temperature may enhance dehydration , which we assume is taking place through differential vapor pressure between the unfrozen insect and external ice . this process has been noted in other organisms such as earthworm cocoons ( dendrobaena octaedra ) and collembola ( onychiurus arcticus ) ( holmstrup et al . , 2002 ) , and the antarctic midge , belgica antarctica ( elnitsky et al . , 2008 ) . the direct contact between ice and the body of the larva reduces the diffusion distance , which is inversely proportional to water loss rate ( holmstrup and zachariassen , 1996 ) . exposure to low temperatures increases differential vapor pressure between the frozen microhabitat and the supercooled body fluids ; consequently , these organisms lose water to the environment until they come to a new equilibrium . it is problematic whether c . c . puniceus larvae reach vapor pressure equilibrium with the environment at the extremely low temperatures to which they are exposed , and consequently , they may not correctly be said to undergo ‘cryoprotective dehydration’ that requires vapor pressure equilibrium ( holmstrup et al . , 2002 ) . however , dehydration results in the low water contents that are found in larvae in winter , especially those that deep supercool . for fairbanks larvae , the range of water contents associated with deep supercooling was 0 . 6–0 . 2 mg mg –1 dry mass ( compared with 2 . 0 mg mg –1 dry mass in summer ) and 0 . 9 - 0 . 3 mg mg –1 dry mass for the wiseman population . there is no significant difference in mean water content ( approximately 0 . 4 mg mg –1 dry mass ) between populations .
in addition to decreasing the amount of water available for freezing , dehydration also causes concentration of solutes . there was a 1 . 6 - fold increase in mean glycerol concentration in individuals that did not freeze compared with insects that froze , with one individual having a glycerol concentration of 6 . 5 mol l –1 ( table 3 ) . although we did not directly measure antifreeze protein concentration , there was also a 1 . 2 - fold increase in thermal hysteresis activity ( a proxy for the presence and concentration of antifreeze proteins ) in diluted homogenates of unfrozen individuals compared to those of individuals that froze . in general , the amount of dehydration measured could cause the concentration of antifreezes to increase by as much as fivefold ; therefore , afps not only contribute to supercooling ability of non - deep supercooling individuals , but they also almost certainly contribute to the ability of individuals to deep supercool and vitrify . the inability to sample larval hemolymph , because of their extreme desiccation in winter , precludes the determination of hemolymph thermal hysteresis , therefore necessitating the measurement of thermal hysteresis in homogenates . as a result we do not know the thermal hysteresis activity of winter hemolymph ; however , we reported earlier ( bennett et al . , 2005 ) that hemolymph from autumn larvae prior to desiccation exhibited nearly 13°c of thermal hysteresis when concentrated 3 . 2× to reflect a level of dehydration experienced by winter larvae under a lesser level of dehydration . the known ability of afps nearly identical to those of c . c . puniceus to inhibit ice nucleators ( duman , 2001 ; duman , 2002 ) indicates that the cucujus afps assist deep supercooling and vitrification .
the present study provides direct evidence , through differential scanning calorimetry , that a glass transition temperature can occur at –58°c . by depressing the homogeneous nucleation temperature of body water to below the glass transition temperature ( fahy et al . , 1984 ) , tolerance of dehydration , and by a combination of noncolligative afps and colligative antifreeze ( glycerol ) , c . c . punicius larvae should not be threatened with ice nucleation , even under extreme low ambient temperatures and in direct contact with ice crystals . theoretically , vitrified larvae should be stable for long periods of time because of the unique properties of a vitrified substance . larvae in a vitrified condition will not have the stress of volume expansion and grain growth of ice in tissues ( hochachka and somero , 2002 ) , and since the vitrified condition encompasses both intra - and extra - cellular fluids , vitrified larvae should not encounter the differential osmotic and ionic stress ( storey , 2004 ) that is associated with concentration of solutes when extracellular water freezes . it is interesting that holmstrup et al . ( holmstrup et al . , 2002 ) also demonstrated that ice formation did not occur in dehydrated collembola and earthworm cocoons cooled to –60°c , although vitrification was not reported .
we suggest that over a broad range of temperatures , c . c . puniceus larvae overwinter through a continuum of supercooling capacities by which they survive high latitude winters in a freeze - avoiding state . production of afps in early autumn , followed by cessation of feeding and clearing of the gut , lower the scps into the –20°c range . then , between autumn and winter glycerol accumulates , body water decreases , and there is a concomitant increase in solutes ( including glycerol and antifreeze proteins ) that affords individuals low temperature freezing resistance to approximately –40°c . as body water declines to near 0 . 4 mg mg –1 dry mass , the additional increase in solutes ( which in one case reached approximately 6 mol l –1 glycerol ) has the additional benefit of increasing viscosity , leading to a threshold for vitrification of approximately –58°c . we have measured hundreds of nucleation temperatures in winter c . c . puniceus larvae , and –58°c is the lowest scp that we have recorded , a temperature which is consistent with the highest glass transition temperature measured in larvae . for temperatures lower than –58°c , the combination of low body water , increase in viscosity , and low temperatures , promote vitrification of body fluid that augments survival of individuals well beyond temperatures officially recorded in alaska , putatively adding vitrification to the list of potential insect overwintering strategies . while most c . c . puniceus larvae overwintering in situ are covered by an insulating snow cover for much of the winter , this is not always the case ( fig . 1 ) . although our evidence of low temperature survival indicates that individuals can survive temperatures lower than the lowest glass transition range , we did not directly test survival and vitrification simultaneously . the next tasks are to examine whether larvae truly vitrify in nature and whether they are capable of surviving vitrification under laboratory conditions .
this study was supported by national science foundation grants iob06 - 18436 to b . m . b . and iob06 - 18342 to j . g . d . we wish to thank barbara tudor ( fairbanks ) and jack reakoff ( wiseman , alaska ) for collecting , excellent moose and caribou dinners and discussions on overwintering in wiseman , franziska kohl ( uaf ) for collecting , especially at low temperatures in fairbanks , and dr julie mcintyre ( uaf ) for statistical advice . martin a . carrasco , ii ( notre dame ) and dr sean sharma ( indiana ) are also acknowledged for their many hours of collecting from the toolik field station to fairbanks , ak . the authors would like to dedicate this paper to karl erik zachariassen in memory of his innovative work and profound contributions to overwintering physiology .
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photo credit : t . - c . francis pan some oyster larvae grow faster than others , but now donal t . manahan and colleagues reveal that the fastest growers are marked out by their high protein synthesis rates .
“one of the underappreciated benefits of fellowships is the act of applying for them , because you have to write and articulate your ideas . ”
in our latest early - career interview , we chat to simon sponberg , assistant professor at the georgia institute of technology , usa . he shares the story of his career , beginning with how he combined a love of physics and biology by studying how geckos stick to walls .
a new review from craig p . mcgowan and clint e . collins looks at the ecology , biomechanics and evolution of bipedal hopping in mammals , with a focus on why bipedal hopping has arisen in multiple clades of mammals .
photo credit : ari friedlaender not all orca species prey on aquatic mammals , so how do delphinids know when they are at risk ? a new study shows that pilot whales and risso’s dolphins flee from a subset of orca calls that share acoustic characteristics with other mammal alarm calls , including human screams . this article was featured in science magazine .
at the heart of prelights is the community of early - career researchers who select and highlight interesting preprints in various fields . we are now ready to grow our team of prelighters who are passionate about preprints and enjoy writing and communicating science . find out more here and apply by the extended deadline , 20 july 2018 .
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upcoming events 2018 bugguide gathering in virginia july 27 - 29 : registration and discussion photos of insects and people from the 2015 gathering in wisconsin , july 10 - 12 photos of insects and people from the 2014 gathering in virginia , june 4 - 7 . photos of insects and people from the 2013 gathering in arizona , july 25 - 28 photos of insects and people from the 2012 gathering in alabama photos of insects and people from the 2011 gathering in iowa photos from the 2010 workshop in grinnell , iowa photos from the 2009 gathering in washington
7 spp . in 2 genera in our area , 47 spp . in 4 genera worldwide
disclaimer : dedicated naturalists volunteer their time and resources here to provide this service . we strive to provide accurate information , but we are mostly just amateurs attempting to make sense of a diverse natural world . if you need expert professional advice , contact your local extension office .
contributors own the copyright to and are solely responsible for contributed content . click the contributor ' s name for licensing and usage information . everything else copyright © 2003 - 2018 iowa state university , unless otherwise noted .
this is a small family of only four genera and 36 described species of mostly medium - sized , brightly colored , dorsoventrally compressed beetles found primarily under the bark of dead trees . ( a fifth genus ,
redtenbacher , is discussed and illustrated , but its affinities remain controversial and it is currently placed in the phloeostichidae . ) the literature on the family ( in its narrow sense ) is composed almost entirely of scattered descriptions and the family as a whole has never been revised , nor have any of the genera . consequently , except for some regional works , there are no keys to species or any information on phylogenetic relationships within the family or between it and other families in the cucujoidea . i anticipate revising this family on a worldwide basis in the future , but as that will require a considerable amount of time borrowing specimens , recording data , etc . , i have prepared this webpage as a place to organize my thoughts and at the same time to provide some information on these interesting beetles . it should be considered a work in progress and the information presented here should be approached in that light .
small to moderate in size , 6mm - 25mm ; elongate , parallel - sided , strongly dorsoventrally flattened ; often brightly colored , red or yellow and black ; pubescence inconspicuous to moderately pubescent .
, where it is heavily sclerotized ) ; labial palpi with three palpomeres , terminal palpomere truncate apically ; eyes moderate , round , somewhat flattened to very convex .
) , medial radial vein complete or nearly so ; six veins behind m4 cu , anal lobe present or absent .
abdomen with five visible sterna , sutures entire ; intercoxal process acute ; surface nearly impunctate to densely punctate . male genitalia of two types : one inverted , with parameres ventrad of the median lobe and with a flagellum (
) . female genitalia with proctiger membranous , paraprocts and valvifers reduced to bacula , coxite two - segmented , and stylus apical .
larvae are unknown ) dorsoventrally compressed , orthosomatic , well - sclerotized ; vestiture consists of a few simple setae ; color yellow to red - brown . head protracted and prognathous , transverse , flattened and as wide or wider than prothorax ; frontal arms lyriform ; antennae long , with three antennomeres , antennomere ii with sensorium ; six pairs of stemmata ; frontal suture absent ; labrum free ; mandibles broad , sclerotized , with three apical teeth , an acute prostheca , and a mola ; ventral mouthparts retracted , maxillary articulating area well - developed , mala falciform ; maxillary palpi with three palpomeres ; labial palpi with two palpomeres . legs long , five - segmented , and widely separated ; abdomen with 10 segments , eighth normal to elongate ; tergum ix bearing paired urogomphi supported on a short (
) median stalk ; sternum ix and tenth segment reduced and concealed beneath tergum ix .
some of these similarities may very well prove to be plesiotypic ( e . g . , exposed trochantin ) or convergences ( e . g . , inverted aedeagus , and elongate antennomere iii ( which is present in some laemophloeids and silvanids , but not all ) ) . the most conspicuous difference between


it was feared to have become extinct early in the 20th century after the clearance of most of the island 's forests , but was rediscovered in 1992 in a small patch of limestone forest in the central cebu protected landscape and has since been found at three other sites , namely , the nug-as forest of alcoy , mount lantoy of argao and the forests of dalaguete .

the four-color bird reached a size 11 to 12 centimeters .

the male is characterized by a large , triangular , scarlet to vermilion coat stain.the lower back is ocher with green approach .

back , neck , head and sides of neck , wings and tail are glossy blue-black .

the underside is pale yellow .

chin , belly center , armpits , under tail-coverts , and under wing-coverts are white.the edges are blurred light olive .

in the female , the top is brown .

the head is slightly faded olive , the back , the wing-coverts and outer webs of secondaries are strongly washed out olive .

the rump is almost entirely olive-yellow .

the underside is white with a faint gray olivgelben approach that is brighter towards the center of the chest and abdomen .

the under wing-coverts , shoulders and inner webs of the quills are white .

cebu flowerpecker

the cebu flowerpecker ( dicaeum quadricolor ) is a small passerine bird . it is endemic to cebu island in the philippines . the cebu flowerpecker is a critically endangered breeding bird . more
the cebu flowerpecker is classified as critically endangered ( cr ) , facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild .
the critically endangered cebu flowerpecker was once though extinct until it was rediscovered in 1992 in pocket forests in the hinterland barangay of tabunan in cebu city . of the 200 bird species in the philippines , the cebu flowerpecker that is found in alcoy town ranked third among the rarest birds in the country . more
images cebu flowerpecker habitat the cebu flowerpecker was believed extinct for nearly a century before its surprise rediscovery in 1992 . even now , this highly endangered species , believed to be one of the ten rarest birds in the world , teeters on the verge of . . . more
* what does a cebu flowerpecker do to live in it ' s habitat ? * what does a cebu flowerpecker eat ? * what are central plains and great plains ? » more mentioned in * flowerpeckers ( dicaeidae ) ( zoology ) * dicaeum * birds of south asia . more
. a project document on saving the cebu flowerpecker was being finalised in late 2010 ready for submission to stakeholders ( r . s . s . ybañez
the cebu flowerpecker ( dicaeum quadricolor ) is critically endangered with only a tiny population of less than 50 birds surviving in three forest fragments on the island of cebu in the philippines . long considered to be extinct , the species was re - discovered in 1992 . there are two other globally threatened species of flowerpecker in the philippines : the black - belted or visayan flowerpecker ( d . haematostictum ) and the scarlet - collared flowerpecker ( d . retrocinctum ) . more
the cebu flowerpecker is one of them . birdlife international has recently launched a global program aimed at saving all 189 species from extinction .
the wbcp will do its utmost to increase awareness in cebu about the plight of the cebu flowerpecker ,
lu states .
and we ' re also determined to do the same for other species unique to cebu , including the black shama , which is endangered , but not yet on the ' critical ' list . more
alcoy , where the cebu flowerpecker is found . the cebu biodiversity conservation foundation ( cbcf ) is the species guardian for the cebu flowerpecker , dot’s counterpart in working towards the implementation and execution of programs for conservation . lisa marie paguntalan , cbcf research director and a passionate environmentalist , said “it is heartwarming to know that we are not alone in efforts for the conservation of this bird species , endemic to the country . more
critically endangered . restricted - range species : endemic to island of cebu and present in cebu eba . has tiny population , and equally tiny and fragmented range in danger from . . .
cebu flowerpecker is species champion in united kingdom bird fair = sep 27th , 2009 by philippine travel blog . the country’s cebu flowerpecker recently received the bird life species champion award in the recently held british birdwatching fair 2009 in oakham , rutland , united kingdom ( uk ) . known as the ‘woodstock of birders , ’ the british birdwatching fair is an exclusive event where all sectors in birdwatching and wildlife conservation from all over the world gather . more
plumage ( especially red back of male ) readily distinguishes it from sympatric flowerpeckers ( e . g . red - keeled flowerpecker
finally , there ' s my article about the cebu flowerpecker in the august issue of bird watching , due out july 20th , and a five - page feature on birding in the philippines , plus a chance to win a great birding holiday there , in our special summer issue , due out august 10th . posted by bw at 11 : 20 am labels : bill thompson iii , birdfair , cebu flowerpecker , philippines 1 comments : jenna said . . . more
cebu flowerpecker , a rare endemic bird species found only in the municipalities of alcoy and tabunan , to lure 58 - million bird - watching enthusiasts from the united states ( us ) and united kingdom ( uk ) combined . “the cebu flowerpecker is the top three rarest birds in the world . on a tourism point of view , something rare is attractive but not too rare that others can’t enjoy , ” tourism secretary ace durano said in a recent press conference . more
. the central cebu national park , together with four other watershed forest reserves , was consolidated to form the central cebu protected landscape ( ccpl ) under republic act 9486 or central cebu protected landscape act of 2007 . a protected area management board handles the management of the consolidated protected area ( l . m . j . paguntalan
cebu flowerpecker in the area . in a new place for us like cebu , we can ' t lower our guard even to very common birds as they might turnout different . highlight of the trip : this has been the case until we saw a black bird with striking red colored upper extremities . for some reasons , this bird ' s appearance was like a puzzle to us . it is definitely bigger than the flowerpecker we ' ve seen earlier but the beak is shorter . more
have chosen the cebu flowerpecker as the emblem of this year’s birding fair because it provides hope and inspiration not to give up on lost species . we are delighted that the philippines ministry of tourism has now become the ‘birdlife species champion’ for this forest jewel . more
21 : saving the cebu flowerpecker , you ' ll see there is reason for hope . i owe a special thanks to all my philippine birding and tourism friends for inviting me on the trip . to tim appleton of the british birdwatching fair for including this lone american on an otherwise 100 % brit birding trip . thanks to richard allen for granting permission to use his beautiful painting of the cebu flowerpecker . to godfrey jakosalem and david tipling for their excellent photography included in the enhanced audio ( m4a ) version of this episode . more
the cebu flowerpecker is a critically endangered breeding bird . it was feared to have become extinct early in the 20th century after the clearance of most of the island ' s forests , but was rediscovered in 1992 in a small patch of limestone forest in the central cebu protected landscape and has since been found at three other sites , namely , the nug - as forest of alcoy , mount lantoy of
cebu flowerpecker was rediscovered by renowned birder and zoologist rob timmins , who saw it in 1992 , 100 years after its last sighting . the bird was found in the village of tabunan . small numbers may also be seen in nug - as and mount lantoy , also in cebu , where about 100 birds of the species may be found . british birdwatchers have confirmed new sightings of the elusive bird . more
identify all remnant forest tracts on cebu and urgently survey them for remaining populations . research the species ' s ecology , particularly interactions with
the cebu flowerpecker , endemic to the island of cebu in the philippines , is the emblem of the campaign . the number of these birds , believed to be under 100 , has been hit by deforestation in the area . ivory billed woodpecker the ivory - billed woodpecker , or
flying elvis
is also perilously close to extinction . a sighting in 2005 surprised some ornithologists , who compared it to the rediscovery of the dodo . more
of the 200 bird species in the philippines , the cebu flowerpecker that is found in alcoy town ranked third among the rarest birds in the country . “this creates instant awareness and consciousness…if you are a birdwatcher , you will be compelled to consider cebu as your next site , ” durano said . “this bird has never been photographed and this further creates mystique . ” he added that people living in alcoy can become tour guides to help locate and identify the birds . more
in the 1890s , the small amount of forest remaining was rapidly being cleared . a century later , cebu retained barely 0 . 03 % ( c . 15 km
cebu flowerpeckers are frugivorous . they forage in the forest canopy , where they mostly eat the berries and fruits of ficus and mistletoe - like plants such as loranthus .
the cebu flowerpecker is a critically endangered breeding bird . it was feared to have become extinct early in the 20th century after the clearance of most of the island ' s forests , but was rediscovered in 1992 in a small patch of limestone forest in the central cebu protected landscape and has since been found at three other sites , namely , the nug - as forest of alcoy , mount lantoy of argao and the forests of dalaguete . other possible sites for this species are in malabuyoc . the current population is estimated to be between 85 and 105 .
cheke , r . , mann , c . & sharpe , c . j . ( 2018 ) . cebu flowerpecker ( dicaeum quadricolor ) . in : del hoyo , j . , elliott , a . , sargatal , j . , christie , d . a . & de juana , e . ( eds . ) . handbook of the birds of the world alive . lynx edicions , barcelona . ( retrieved from urltoken on 9 july 2018 ) .
the cebu flowerpecker , is listed as critically endangered . habitat loss is the cause of the declines of these species . references - 1 . ^ a b c d cheke , robert ; mann , clive ( 2008 ) ,
family dicaeidae ( flowerpeckers )
, in josep , del hoyo ; andrew , elliott ; david , christie , handbook of the birds of the world . volume 13 , penduline - tits to shrikes , barcelona : lynx edicions , pp . more
cebu flowerpecker , of the philippines , was only rediscovered at the eleventh hour just before the last remnants of its forest home were destroyed .
the extinction crisis is gathering momentum , but that’s no excuse for humanity to allow even more strands from the web of life to disappear , especially without giving them a final chance of life .
the announcement of the quest to find lost species is being made at the launch of the 21st british birdwatching fair at rutland water . more
. continue to fund and implement management activities at tabunan . support the proposal to designate mt lantoy as a national park , and urgently propose all remaining forest tracts on cebu , including nug - as , for strict formal protection .
this species has an extremely small and fragmented breeding range and the global population is estimated at just 85 - 105 individuals . the cebu flowerpecker was feared to have become extinct during the 20th century , because all the island ' s forest were thought to have been cleared . however , it was rediscovered in 1992 . the population is now believed to be stable , or declining very slowly , as the remaining patches of forests are located in areas where they are not likely to be cleared . still , the risk of habitat destruction due to illegal settlement , road construction , shifting cultivation , illicit logging , charcoal making , firewood collection and habitat clearance for mining ; the interspecific competition with red - striped flowerpecker dicaeum australe ; and the inevitable risk of stochastic events that may eliminate such a small population make this one of the most endangered bird species in the world .
size 11 - 12 cm . rather stocky flowerpecker with rather short , stout bill . male has conspicuous pattern , with blackish head , bright scarlet - red mantle and back , yellowish - green rump , blackish - blue wings and tail , and greyish - white underparts with paler ventral stripe . female duller overall , with dark greyish back ( lacking any red ) and brownish - grey underparts .
. habitat rehabilitation activities are now largely concentrated in the southern part of cebu where the larger forests of alcoy lie in close proximity to four other remaining forest patches . the establishment of corridors has been initiated to link up nug - as forest to dalaguete and in the malabuyoc - alegria area ( l . m . j . paguntalan
nug - as forest is managed and protected by three people ' s organisations with community - based forest management agreements with the department of environment and natural resources . from 1999 until 2004 , the cebu biodiversity conservation foundation conducted habitat rehabilitation activities using native species and forest protection activities in tabunan , controlling timber poaching and forest clearing and encouraging regeneration of secondary growth areas . the initiative also maintained the remaining mature secondary forest cover and increased the native vegetation cover through regeneration of secondary growth habitats ( l . m . j . paguntalan
this species has an extremely small population and very small , severely fragmented range owing to catastrophic deforestation which , although it has now slowed , is continuing . these factors qualify it as critically endangered .
recommended citation birdlife international ( 2018 ) species factsheet : dicaeum quadricolor . downloaded from urltoken on 09 / 07 / 2018 . recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species : birdlife international ( 2018 ) iucn red list for birds . downloaded from urltoken on 09 / 07 / 2018 .
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thank you for taking the time to provide feedback on the iucn red list of threatened species website , we are grateful for your input .
del hoyo , j . , collar , n . j . , christie , d . a . , elliott , a . , fishpool , l . d . c . , boesman , p . and kirwan , g . m . 2016 . hbw and birdlife international illustrated checklist of the birds of the world . volume 2 : passerines . lynx edicions and birdlife international , barcelona , spain and cambridge , uk .
. 1999 ) . in the late 1800s it was known from just two localities , where it was considered not uncommon . early in the 20th century , it was feared to have become extinct because all the island ' s forest was thought to have been cleared . however , it was rediscovered in 1992 at tabunan ( 80 ha , plus another 40 ha of surrounding fragments ) where it was seen most recently in 2007 ( l . m . j . paguntalan
. since 1992 it has been found at three further sites , nug - as ( 700 + ha ) ( l . m . j . paguntalan
, dalaguete ( 80 + ha ) ( l . m . j . paguntalan
and mt lantoy ( 30 + ha ) . in 2010 , there were at least two sightings of this species by forest wardens in the alcoy area , including a pair in the vicinity of human habitation ( r . s . s . ybañez
. 2010 ) . three other areas of forest exist , but the species has not yet been reported from them : caurasan - mt . kapayas ( 100 + ha ) , tuburan ( 300 ha including exotic plantations ) and malabuyoc ( 30 ha ) ( l . m . j . paguntalan
. population declines are now likely to be fairly slow because so little forest remains , and that which does is on areas difficult to cultivate or without water ( l . m . j . paguntalan
. the maximum number seen together at any of these four sites is just four birds , and the current population is estimated at c . 100 individuals , with 50 - 60 at nug - as , 25 - 30 at tabunan , and 10 - 15 at dalaguete ( l . m . j . paguntalan
in 2005 the population was estimated at 85 - 105 individuals . ( l . m . j . paguntalan
population declines are likely to be fairly slow now because so little forest remains , and that which does is on areas difficult to cultivate or without water ( l . m . j . paguntalan
historically , it was considered to be strictly confined to forest . recent observations clearly indicate an association with the tallest remaining forest patches up to c . 500 m , most of which are on karst limestone . it evidently frequents secondary and selectively logged areas , but always next to a larger patch of native vegetation ( l . m . j . paguntalan
. 2012 ) . breeding is suspected to take place between february and august ( l . m . j . paguntalan
) of its original cover , and even the most degraded secondary habitats were scarce . the few remaining tracts of forest are variously threatened by illegal settlement , road construction , shifting cultivation , illicit logging , charcoal making , firewood collection and habitat clearance for mining . interspecific competition with
may have accelerated the species ' s decline given the extreme shortage of available habitat . this species may have suffered from the impacts of typhoon haiyan which in many areas stripped trees bare of leaves and fruit ( de win 2013 ) .
. reforestation in areas near and adjacent to tabunan forest is on - going ( r . s . s . ybañez
. forest cover has been increased by the planting of at least 10 ha each year and protection of secondary growth areas , and at least six municipalities have conducted habitat rehabilitation activities .
local forest wardens regularly conduct forest patrols in both nug - as and dalaguete forest patches , and are supported by the municipal government under the forest and wildlife protection program ( l . m . j . paguntalan
. mt . lantoy was declared as a watershed forest reserve ( presidential proclamation no . 414 dated 29 june , 1994 ) and was considered as part of the initial component of national integrated protected area system act ( nipas act ) . a protected area management board was created and manages the protected area . in december 2006 , a new executive order was issued by president gloria macapagal arroyo reducing the watershed reserve area coverage from 7 , 265 ha to 3 , 000 ha ( l . m . j . paguntalan
. field research into the species ' s ecology is on - going ( l . m . j . paguntalan
( amended version of 2016 assessment ) . the iucn red list of threatened species 2017 : e . t22717507a111116273 .
to make use of this information , please check the < terms of use > .
9 cm . male has top and side of head and hindneck black , mantle and back black , feathers with extensively bright orange - red tips , lower back and rump greenish - yellow , . . .
gives “seep - seep - seep tik - tik - tik - tik” , the “tik” notes like sound made by striking together two . . .
occurs around flowering and fruiting vines and trees in forest ; found in both open - canopy and . . .
small fruits of forest trees , and presumably also fruit , nectar and pollen of mistletoes ( loranthaceae ) . attracted to red - flowered vines . . .
nesting in jun , juveniles observed in jun , jul and dec ; singing male in mar . nest observed but details not yet documented . no other . . .
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reference : pzs ( 1877 ) pt4 p . 762 pl . 77 fig . 2
howard and moore 4th edition ( incl . corrigenda vol . 1 - 2 ) :
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a blog dedicated to the thousands of bird species that fly , swim or walk on our planet .
they are mostly found on the tallest remaining patches of native rainforest , being strongly associated to karst limestone soils . they may use areas of disturbed or selectively logged forest , but only when these occur next to a larger patch of native vegetation .
these birds are suspected to breed in february - august , but nothing else is known about their reproductive biology .
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