The beetle community of small oak twigs in Louisiana, with a literature review of Coleoptera from fine woody debris

We conducted a study to explore which beetles utilize dead twigs in a Louisiana secondary forest and the effect of debris position on the beetle community. Twigs averaging 14 mm in diameter from one tree of Quercus falcata Michaux (southern red oak) were placed randomly into bundles of ten. At each of three sites, three bundles were laid on the ground, three were propped at the base of a living tree, and three were tied tightly above the ground against the branch of a living woody plant. The bundles were collected 10 months litter and each was placed into an emergence chamber. More than 400 adult Coleoptera specimens were collected, representing 35 species within 16 families. Cerambycidae (longhorn beetles) and Curculionidae (weevils) exhibited the highest species richness, with nine and five species, respectively. Species richness was significantly different among treatments. Bundles placed on the ground had the lowest richness, aboveground bundles had the highest, and propped bundles were intermediate. Twelve species (34%) were represented by singletons.