Callosobruchus maculatus

Callosobruchus maculatus
Female Callosobruchus maculatus
Vibrometric recording of Callosobruchus maculatus feeding inside a seed.
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Family: Chrysomelidae
Genus: Callosobruchus
Species:
C. maculatus
Binomial name
Callosobruchus maculatus
(Fabricius, 1775)
Synonyms
  • Bruchus ambiguus Gyllenhal, 1839
  • Bruchus calcaratus Wollaston, 1867
  • Bruchus maculatus Fabricius, 1775
  • Bruchus millingeni Pic, 1900
  • Bruchus ornatus Boheman, 1829
  • Bruchus quadrimaculatus Fabricius, 1792
  • Bruchus sinuatus Fåhraeus, 1839
  • Bruchus trabuti Caillol, 1919
  • Bruchus vicinus Gyllenhal, 1833

Callosobruchus maculatus is a species of beetles known commonly as the cowpea weevil or cowpea seed beetle.[1] It is a member of the leaf beetle family, Chrysomelidae, and not a true weevil. It is often mistaken for Callosobruchus chinensis, another bean beetle species with a similar lifestyle. This common pest of stored legumes has a cosmopolitan distribution, occurring on every continent except Antarctica.[2] The beetle most likely originated in West Africa and moved around the globe with the trade of legumes and other crops.[1] As only a small number of individuals were likely present in legumes carried by people to distant places, the populations that have invaded various parts of the globe have likely gone through multiple bottlenecks. Despite these bottlenecks and the subsequent rounds of inbreeding, these populations persist. This ability to withstand a high degree of inbreeding has likely contributed to this species’ prevalence as a pest.[1]

It is used as a model organism for both research and education due to its quick generation time, sexual dimorphism, and ease of maintenance.[3]

  1. ^ a b c Tran, B. M. D. and P. F. Credland. (1995). Consequences of inbreeding for the cowpea seed beetle, Callosobruchus maculatus (F.) (Coleoptera: Bruchidae). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 56 483-503.
  2. ^ Cowpea weevil (Callosobruchus maculatus (Fabricius, 1775)). Archived 2016-03-05 at the Wayback Machine PaDIL.
  3. ^ Bean Beetles: A Model Organism for Inquiry-based Undergraduate Laboratories. beanbeetles.org, Emory University and Morehouse College.