Some Biological Aspects of Sternocera ruficornis Saunder, 1866 in Dry Dipterocarp Forest at Sakaerat Environmental Research Station

Abstract

The buprestid, Sternocera ruficornis in dry dipterocarp forest at Sakaerat Environmental Research Station was investigated. The life cycle from egg to adult was approximately two years in the soil. The adults were short-lived, about one month. Eggs were oval, yellowish and deposited singly in the soil one centimeter deep at the base of Arundinaria pusilla Cheval. & A. Camus. Each female laid 5-12 eggs with an incubation period of 57.32 + 2.25 days. The larva was legless and with a reduced head that was sunken into laterally expanded prothorax. The abdomen was cylindrical. There were five larval instars with the first, second, third and fourth remaining in soil and feeding on the rhizome of A. pusilla. The fifth instar built an earthen cell or cocoon in the soil. The last quiescent larva required at least 14 to 15 months inside the earthen cell to transform to the pupal stage. Pupation took place in earthen cell. Adults emerged from the soil, after the heavy rain during the rainy season and were active in the daytime. After copulation, the female oviposit the egg in the soil.