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Group size affects the metabolic rate of a tropical beetle

ABSTRACT. . Dormancy is metabolically very costly for insects and other poikilotherms of the tropics because energy reserves are rapidly utilized at high temperature. Yet, the beetle Stenotarsus rotundus Arrow spends up to 10 months each year in a tropical lowland forest as a non‐feeding adult, dependent upon its fat reserve as an energy source. While in this dormant state, the beetles aggregate in huge numbers and the size of the group greatly influences the metabolic rate. As group size increases, the metabolic rate decreases, and the minimum rate observed in the field (22μl O2 g‐1 h‐1) is estimated to occur when group size reaches about 300 individuals. A decrease in metabolic rate can also be achieved by elevating relative humidity, thus suggesting that one function of the aggregation is to increase humidity within the group and thereby decrease metabolic rate.