# Bruchus

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Bruchus
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Bruchus.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruchus
> Source revision: 1354877213
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

{{Short description|Genus of beetles}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| image = Bruchus brachialis usda.jpg
| image_caption = ''[Bruchus brachialis](/source/Bruchus_brachialis)''
| taxon = Bruchus
| display_parents = 2
| authority = [Linnaeus](/source/Carl_Linnaeus), 1767
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision = see text
}}

'''''Bruchus''''' is a [genus](/source/genus) of [beetle](/source/beetle)s in the leaf beetle family, [Chrysomelidae](/source/leaf_beetle). They are distributed mainly in the [Palearctic](/source/Palearctic_realm),<ref name=ker>Kergoat, G. J., et al. (2007). [http://bruchiteam.nhmus.hu/zsizsikespdf/Kergoat/KergoatMPE2007accept.pdf Defining the limits of taxonomic conservatism in host–plant use for phytophagous insects: Molecular systematics and evolution of host–plant associations in the seed-beetle genus ''Bruchus'' Linnaeus (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Bruchinae).] ''Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution'' 43(1), 251-69.</ref> especially in [Europe](/source/Europe).<ref name=ker04>Kergoat, G. J., et al. (2004). [http://coleoptera-neotropical.org/BIBLIOTECAJEBT/pdf/bruchidae/Kergoat,%20G.J.,%20A.%20Delobel,%20J.F.%20Silvain.%202004.pdf Phylogeny and host-specificity of European seed beetles (Coleoptera, Bruchidae), new insights from molecular and ecological data.] ''Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution'' 32(3), 855-65.</ref> Several occur in other parts of the world, such as North America, Africa, and Australia, as [introduced species](/source/introduced_species).<ref name=ker/> Several species are notorious agricultural [pests](/source/pest_(organism)).

The genus is part of the subfamily [Bruchinae](/source/bean_weevil). Members of the subfamily are known commonly as bean weevils. Many authors prefer to call them seed-beetles or bean beetles, because they are not true [weevil](/source/weevil)s, and because in most species, the [larva](/source/larva)e develop inside [seed](/source/seed)s, particularly [bean](/source/bean)s.<ref name=ker08>Kergoat, G. J. and N. Alvarez. (2008). [http://bruchiteam.nhmus.hu/zsizsikespdf/Kergoat/Syst.%20Entomol.%20-%20Kergoat%20&%20Alvarez%202008.pdf Assessing the phylogenetic usefulness of a previously neglected morphological structure through elliptic Fourier analyses: a case study in ''Bruchus'' seed-beetles (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Bruchinae).] ''Systematic Entomology'' 33(2), 289-300.</ref><ref name=tuda>Tuda, M. (2007). [https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20120130204521/http://bbs1.agr.kyushu-u.ac.jp/bio/cv.files/TudaAEZ2007.pdf Applied evolutionary ecology of insects of the subfamily Bruchinae (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae).] ''Applied Entomology and Zoology'' 42(3), 337-46.</ref> Because Bruchinae was known as the [family](/source/Family_(taxonomy)) Bruchidae until the 1990s,<ref name=ker/> they are sometimes still called bruchid beetles.

==Description==
The genus ''Bruchus'' is well-defined by a number of characters, such as the shape of the [pronotum](/source/Prothorax), an arrangement of spines or plates on the tibia of the middle [leg](/source/Arthropod_leg) of the male, and the unique morphology of the male [genitalia](/source/sex_organ).<ref name=ker/> The latter are slender and elongated,<ref name=king>Kingsolver, J. M. [https://www.ars.usda.gov/is/np/Bruchidae/BruchidaeVol1.pdf ''Handbook of the Bruchidae of the United States and Canada (Insecta, Coleoptera)'', Volume I.] Technical Bulletin 1912. USDA ARS. 2004. pg. 69.</ref> and the eighth [abdominal sternite](/source/Sternum_(arthropod_anatomy)) in particular is large and [sclerotized](/source/Sclerites), "with a characteristic [boomerang](/source/boomerang) shape".<ref name=ker08/> This part of the genitalia has been called the "urosternite", but other authors suggest the term "ventral plate" is more appropriate.<ref name=ker08/> The robust ventral plate of ''Bruchus'' helps distinguish the genus from other seed-beetles, which tend to have [vestigial](/source/Vestigiality) or lobe-like ventral plates.<ref name=ker08/> The ventral plate is useful in identification because each species seems to have a distinctive shape to it, and it does not vary among individuals of one species.<ref name=ker08/>

In general, these beetles have black bodies with patterns of white or yellow [seta](/source/seta)e. Some species have red or red-orange legs. The [elytra](/source/elytron) are marked with straight lines.<ref name=king/>

==Biology==
''Bruchus'' are specialists, feeding and developing almost exclusively on plants of the [legume](/source/fabaceae) tribe [Fabeae](/source/Fabeae) (Vicieae),<ref name=ker/> which includes [pea](/source/pea)s, [sweet peas](/source/Lathyrus), [lentils](/source/Lens_(plant)), and [vetches](/source/vicia). Examples include [cow vetch](/source/Vicia_cracca) (''Vicia cracca''), which is attacked by at least nine ''Bruchus'' species, [common vetch](/source/Vicia_sativa) (''Vicia sativa''), which is host to five recorded species, and [meadow vetchling](/source/Lathyrus_pratensis) (''Lathyrus pratensis'') and [tuberous pea](/source/Lathyrus_tuberosus) (''Lathyrus tuberosus''), which are each attacked by four species.<ref name=ker/> Some ''Bruchus'' species are monophagous, living on just one host plant species.<ref name=ker04/>

Some species of ''Lathyrus'' have an [antipredator adaptation](/source/Plant_defense_against_herbivory) that may have evolved in response to ''Bruchus'' and other seed-beetles. The fruit pods develop a [callus](/source/Callus_(cell_biology)) when attacked, by the beetle, and this growth is mediated by bruchins, compounds so far known only from seed-beetles.<ref name=ker/>

These beetles are [univoltine](/source/voltinism), producing one generation per year.<ref name=ker/> The female lays eggs on the fruit pod of its host legume in spring and summer, and the larva enters a seed to develop. The adult emerges, but remains in [diapause](/source/diapause) through fall and winter, waiting until spring to reproduce.<ref name=ker/>

==Impacts==
Among the major agricultural pests in the genus are ''B. lentis'' on [lentil](/source/lentil)s, ''B. pisorum'' on [pea](/source/pea)s, and ''[B. rufimanus](/source/Bruchus_rufimanus)'' on [fava beans](/source/vicia_faba).<ref name=ker/> ''Bruchus'' species are among the worst pests of lentils, in one study causing a 30% loss of a crop.<ref name=las>Laserna-Ruiz, I., et al. (2012). [https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10681-012-0752-7#page-1 Screening and selection of lentil (''Lens'' Miller) germplasm resistant to seed bruchids (''Bruchus'' spp.).] ''Euphytica'' 188(2), 153-62.</ref> While many seed-beetles are pests of stored bean supplies, ''Bruchus'' species do not reproduce in postharvest dry bean stores, just in beans on the plant in the field.<ref name=tuda/>

One species has proved more useful. ''B. rufipes'' was found inside jars of [Spanish vetchling](/source/Lathyrus_clymenum) (''Lathyrus clymenum'') seeds in the ruins of [Akrotiri](/source/Akrotiri_(prehistoric_city)), a settlement on the island of [Santorini](/source/Santorini) destroyed in the [Minoan eruption](/source/Minoan_eruption) of its [volcano](/source/volcano).<ref name=pan>Panagiotakopulu, E., et al. (2013). [https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00114-013-1068-8#page-1 Ancient pests: the season of the Santorini Minoan volcanic eruption and a date from insect chitin.] ''Naturwissenschaften'' 100 683-89.</ref> The inhabitants used the vetchling seeds for food.<ref name=mel>Melamed, Y., et al. (2009). [http://bio.huji.ac.il/upload/E154%20Lathyrus%20clymenum%20-Yoel%20Melamed%2009.pdf ''Lathyrus clymenum'' L. in Israel: A "revival" of an ancient species.] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131007124744/http://bio.huji.ac.il/upload/E154%20Lathyrus%20clymenum%20-Yoel%20Melamed%2009.pdf |date=October 7, 2013 }} ''Israel Journal of Plant Sciences'' 57(1-2), 125-30.</ref> Charred remains of ''B. rufipes'', a pest of the plant, were recovered from the jars and the [chitin](/source/chitin) was successfully [radiocarbon dated](/source/Radiocarbon_dating), providing evidence that the date of the eruption was between 1744 and 1538 BC.<ref name=pan/>

==Systematics==
[Linnaeus](/source/Carl_Linnaeus) erected the genus, and initially it contained almost all the known species of seed-beetles. The genus was divided over time and many species were distributed into new genera. Some authors, though, continued to classify new seed-beetles in ''Bruchus'', creating a disorganized taxon full of species quite obviously unrelated to one another. Today, after revisions, the [circumscription](/source/Circumscription_(taxonomy)) of ''Bruchus'' is relatively clear.<ref name=ker11>Kergoat, G. J., et al. (2011). [http://bruchiteam.nhmus.hu/zsizsikespdf/Kergoat/Mol.%20Phylogenet.%20EvoL.%20-%20Kergoat%20et%20al.%202011.pdf Phylogenetics, species boundaries and timing of resource tracking in a highly specialized group of seed beetles (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Bruchinae).] ''Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution'' 59, 746-60.</ref>

[Phylogenetic analyses](/source/Phylogenetics) have shown that the genus as it is now defined is [monophyletic](/source/monophyly),<ref name=ker04/> but also that two of the seven groups in the genus are "potentially [paraphyletic](/source/paraphyly)".<ref name=ker08/>

As of 2008, about 36<ref name=ker/><ref name=ker08/> species are in the genus.

Species include:<ref name=ker/><ref name=ker08/>
[[File:Bruchus atomarius1.jpg|thumb|right|''[Bruchus atomarius](/source/Bruchus_atomarius)'']]
[[File:Bruchus rufimanus head side.jpg|thumb|right|''[Bruchus rufimanus](/source/Bruchus_rufimanus)'']]
[[File:Bruchus affinis (2007-05-27).jpg|thumb|right|''[Bruchus affinis](/source/Bruchus_affinis)'']]
*''[Bruchus affinis](/source/Bruchus_affinis)''
*''[Bruchus altaicus](/source/Bruchus_altaicus)''
*''[Bruchus anatolicus](/source/Bruchus_anatolicus)''<ref name=anton>Anton, K.-W. (1999). [http://www.landesmuseum.at/pdf_frei_remote/LBB_0031_2_0655-0660.pdf Two new species of the ''Bruchus brachialis'' group from the Mediterranean region (Coleoptera: Bruchidae: Bruchinae).] ''Linzer Biologische Beiträge'' 31(2), 655-60.</ref>
*''[Bruchus atomarius](/source/Bruchus_atomarius)''
*''[Bruchus brachialis](/source/Bruchus_brachialis)''
*''[Bruchus brisouti](/source/Bruchus_brisouti)''
*''[Bruchus canariensis](/source/Bruchus_canariensis)''
*''[Bruchus dentipes](/source/Bruchus_dentipes)''
*''[Bruchus emarginatus](/source/Bruchus_emarginatus)''
*''[Bruchus ervi](/source/Bruchus_ervi)''
*''[Bruchus griseomaculatus](/source/Bruchus_griseomaculatus)''
*''[Bruchus hamatus](/source/Bruchus_hamatus)''
*''[Bruchus hierroensis](/source/Bruchus_hierroensis)''
*''[Bruchus ibericus](/source/Bruchus_ibericus)''<ref name=anton/>
*''[Bruchus laticollis](/source/Bruchus_laticollis)''
*''[Bruchus lends](/source/Bruchus_lends)''
*''[Bruchus libanensis](/source/Bruchus_libanensis)''
*''[Bruchus loti](/source/Bruchus_loti)''
*''[Bruchus lugubris](/source/Bruchus_lugubris)''
*''[Bruchus luteicornis](/source/Bruchus_luteicornis)''
*''[Bruchus mirabilicollis](/source/Bruchus_mirabilicollis)''
*''[Bruchus mulkaki](/source/Bruchus_mulkaki)''
*''[Bruchus occidentalis](/source/Bruchus_occidentalis)''
*''[Bruchus pavlovskii](/source/Bruchus_pavlovskii)''
*''[Bruchus perezi](/source/Bruchus_perezi)''
*''[Bruchus pisorum](/source/Bruchus_pisorum)''
*''[Bruchus rufimanus](/source/Bruchus_rufimanus)''
*''[Bruchus rufipes](/source/Bruchus_rufipes)''
*''[Bruchus sibiricus](/source/Bruchus_sibiricus)''
*''[Bruchus signaticornis](/source/Bruchus_signaticornis)''
*''[Bruchus tetragonus](/source/Bruchus_tetragonus)''
*''[Bruchus tristiculus](/source/Bruchus_tristiculus)''
*''[Bruchus tristis](/source/Bruchus_tristis)''
*''[Bruchus ulicis](/source/Bruchus_ulicis)''
*''[Bruchus venustus](/source/Bruchus_venustus)''
*''[Bruchus viciae](/source/Bruchus_viciae)''

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite journal |last1=Jermy |first1=Tibor |last2=Szentesi |first2=Árpád |title=Evolutionary aspects of host plant specialisation – a study on bruchids (Coleoptera: Bruchidae) |journal=Oikos |date=2003 |volume=101 |issue=1 |pages=196–204 |doi=10.1034/j.1600-0706.2003.11918.x |url=http://www.coleoptera-neotropical.org/BIBLIOTECAJEBT/pdf/bruchidae/Jermy,%20T.-A.%20Szentesi.%202003.pdf }} 
*{{cite journal |last1=Szentesi |first1=Árpád |last2=Jermy |first2=Tibor |title=Predispersal seed predation in leguminous species: seed morphology and bruchid distribution |journal=Oikos |date=1995 |volume=73 |issue=1 |pages=23–32 |doi=10.2307/3545721 |jstor=3545721 |url=http://bruchiteam.nhmus.hu/szentesipdf/Oikos73(1)23-1.pdf }}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q2926499}}
{{Authority control}}

Category:Chrysomelidae genera
Category:Bruchinae
Category:Animal taxa named by Carl Linnaeus

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Bruchus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruchus) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruchus?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.