Coleopteran burrows from foreshore settings in Florianópolis, Brazil

Abstract

While insects are versatile animals capable of occupying harsh environmental conditions, not many are present in the marine environment, and has generally been discounted as trace makers in such settings. During the intra-congress field trip of ICHNIA 2024, however, we observed multiple surficial burrows on foreshore sediments that were constructed by beetle larvae. While there are several reports of insect burrows from backshores, eolian dunes, salt marshes, tidal creeks, washover fans, and distributary channels, we are not aware of ichnological studies of these burrows from the foreshore. Moreover, some of these studies failed to identify or mention the entity of the trace makers, and have not stressed enough the significance of burrowing marine insects on palichnology and paleoecology. Some entomologists on the other hand have recognized insects in marine environments, and some insect groups (such as Coleoptera and Diptera) have burrowing larvae in brackish to marine environments. Understanding the burrow morphologies of marine insects compared to freshwater insects or other marine invertebrates may help us understand the ecological significance and evolutionary history of insects in marine habitats.

Keywords:

• Coleoptera
• insects
• burrows
• foreshore
• neoichnology

Acknowledgements

This discovery would not have been possible without the intra-congress field trip of ICHNIA 2024 in the first place, and we would like to extend our gratitude to Renata Netto (who has also kindly overseen the editorial process as the associate editor), the conference organizers, and other organization and personnel involved in the meeting for their hard work and dedication in making the excursion possible. We would also like to thank Dan Hembree and an anonymous reviewer, and the co-editor, Luis Buatois for helping us improve our manuscript. Finally, we would like to thank our colleagues Brette Harris (who has also allowed us to use her photo in Figure 1), James MacEachern, Kerrie Bann, Sara Biddle, and Shahin Dashtgard for their company during the meeting, and assistance in finding and imaging the burrows/trace makers.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

Funding to attend the conference was provided by the International Ichnological Association (IIA), International Association of Sedimentologists (IAS), Society for Sedimentary Geology (SEPM), and the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research (FGSR) and Graduate Students’ Association (GSA) of the University of Alberta.