Cerambyx cerdo(Cc) is a protected saproxylic beetle in Europe, although it is increasingly reported as an oak ‘pest’. Cc ecological features are relatively well known, but, its reproductive biology is still poorly understood. Hence, we investigated the reproductive traits of Cc under laboratory conditions. In females, body length was 44.1 ± 0.9 mm, 28–53 (mean ± SE, range); fecundity 143 ± 11 eggs, 33–347; fertility 78 ± 1%, 65–93; oviposition period 44 ± 3 days, 13–128 and longevity 59 ± 5 days, 16–157. Fecundity was positively correlated with female size, longevity and oviposition period. Daily fecundity was 3.5 ± 0.2 eggs/day, 0.9–6.5 showing a fluctuating synovigenic pattern with a slight decreasing trend over time. Egg length was 3.74 ± 0.01 mm, 2.3–6.0 and egg volume 5.45 ± 0.04 mm³, 2.4–9.6. Egg size was correlated with female size, but, the relative size of eggs was larger in smaller females. Incubation time was 13.5 ± 0.1 days, 7–28. Hatching was superior in larger eggs and neonate size was positively correlated to egg volume. Females were polyandrous (up to 19 matings), but, multiple mating did not enhance fecundity or fertility. In males, body length was 41.8 ± 0.8 mm, 29–53 and longevity 49 ± 3 days, 9–124. Male longevity was unrelated to body size. Males were polygynous (up to 16 matings) and mating number did not affect male longevity. Overall, females were larger and lived longer than males. Cc reproductive traits are compared with those other Cerambycidae, especially with the congeneric pestCerambyx welensii. Our data may be valuable to improve the protection/management measures of Cc in dehesa woodlands and other oak forests.

Three large saproxylic cerambycids with different pest/legal status co-occur in the Iberian oak woodlands,Cerambyx welensii(Cw),Cerambyx cerdo(Cc) andPrinobius myardi(Pm): Cw is an emerging pest, Cc is a protected but sometimes harmful species and Pm is a secondary/minor pest. A precise taxonomic diagnosis is necessary for research, management or protection purposes, but may be problematic mainly because Cw and Cc larvae are morphologically indistinguishable. To resolve this constraint, we genotyped adults, larvae and eggs collected over a wide geographical range using the mitochondrial barcoding of the cytochromecoxidase subunit I (COI). A Neighbour-Joining tree phylogram revealed three distinct clusters corresponding to Cw, Cc and Pm. We further first sequenced for Cw and Cc two mitochondrial (12S rRNA and 16S rRNA) and one nuclear (28S rRNA) gene fragments. For the first two genes, interspecific divergence was lower than inCOI, and for the 28S (lower mutation rate), the two species shared identical haplotypes. Two approaches for species delimitation (General Mixed Yule Coalescent (GMYC), Barcode Index Number (BIN)) confirmed the species distinctiveness of Cc and Cw. The BayesianCOIgene tree showed a remarkable genetic divergence between Cc populations from Iberia and the rest of Europe. Such divergence has relevant taxonomic connotations and stresses the importance of a wide geographical scale sampling for accurate DNA barcoding species identification. Incongruities between morphology/lineage andCOIbarcodes in some individuals revealed natural hybridization between Cw and Cc. Natural hybridization is important from a phylogenetic/evolutionary perspective in these cerambycids, but the prevalence of (and the behavioural/ecological factors involved in) interspecific cross-breeding remain to be investigated.

In Mediterranean vineyards the European grapevine moth, Lobesia botrana, usually completes three non-overlapping larval generations per year. Larvae feed on inflorescences and unripe or ripe grapes. Previous work has shown that the larval food source has a huge effect on adult size and fitness. We investigated if larval food also affects the propensity of females to mate polyandrously. Levels of polyandry were monitored with baited traps in a vineyard for two years and then compared with data from laboratory trials using vine-reared individuals. In the field, polyandry levels followed a cyclic annual pattern associated with the larval food source. Large females that fed on ripe grapes exhibited significantly higher levels of polyandry than smaller females that fed on inflorescences. Females that fed on unripe grapes showed intermediate levels of remating. Polyandry also tended to increase later in each flight. Laboratory trials confirmed a direct effect of larval feeding on levels of polyandry. Overall, these results showed that the seasonal variation in polyandry exhibited by L. botrana in the field occurs, at least in part, because of food-derived changes regulating female size. Results also suggested that larval feeding could shape sexual size dimorphism and polyandry levels. Larval nutrition should therefore be considered as an important ecological factor by those studying the evolutionary significance of polyandry and sperm competition in the Lepidoptera.

Actinomycetes constitute a large group of Gram-positive bacteria present in different habitats. One of these habitats involves the association of these bacteria with insects. In this work, we have studied twenty-four actinomycetes strains isolated from the intestinal tract and feces from larvae of the xylophagous coleopteran Cerambyx welensii and have shown that seventeen strains present hydrolytic activity of some of the following substrates: cellulose, hemicellulose, starch and proteins. Fourteen of the isolates produce antimicrobial molecules against the Gram-positive bacteria Micrococcus luteus. Analysis of seven strains led us to identify the production of a wide number of compounds including streptanoate, alpiniamide A, alteramides A and B, coproporphyrin III, deferoxamine, demethylenenocardamine, dihydropicromycin, nocardamine, picromycin, surugamides A, B, C, D and E, tirandamycins A and B, and valinomycin. A significant number of other compounds, whose molecular formulae are not included in the Dictionary of Natural Products (DNP), were also present in the extracts analyzed, which opens up the possibility of identifying new active antibiotics. Molecular identification of ten of the isolated bacteria determined that six of them belong to the genus Streptomyces, two of them are included in the genus Amycolatopsis and two in the genus Nocardiopsis.

Polyandry is perhaps the most puzzling component of mating systems because the fitness benefits for females of mating with more than one male during lifetime are poorly understood. The occurrence and extent of polyandry varies considerably both among and within species, and a positive association between polyandry and fecundity is widespread but not universal. The scenario is further complicated because the scientific literature on this issue includes studies that are often inconclusive or contradictory even for the same target species. A previous meta‐analysis detected the crucial importance of two usually neglected aspects that potentially bias the interpretation of primary studies about the polyandry–fecundity relationship: the methodological approach – experimental or descriptive – and the polyandry concept itself – realized or potential. In this paper, we experimentally test the effect of these aspects with the moth Lobesia botrana. We used an innovative protocol in which the experimental and the descriptive methods were conducted simultaneously on the same target population and the results were then interpreted from the perspective of both concepts of polyandry. The results clearly showed that 1) the conclusions about the polyandry–fecundity relationship were strongly dependent on the methodological approach used and 2) the concept of polyandry invoked by the researcher was a confounding effect that potentially biases data interpretation. We suggest that greater attention must be paid to intraspecific variation among females in their propensity to remate. The differentiation in experimental studies between potentially polyandrous and monandrous phenotypes could greatly improve our knowledge about the maintenance of female mating polymorphism in most species and the adaptive significance of polyandry.