Die Käferarten Heldbock und Eremit sind zwei typische Bewohner alter Laub- und Obstbäume. Die reich bebilderte Broschüre gibt Einblick in das interessante Leben dieser beiden auffälligen Käferarten und zeigt auf, mit welchen oft einfachen Maßnahmen Heldbock und Eremit unterstützt werden können. Beide Arten sind in den letzten Jahrzehnten selten geworden und brauchen Schutz. Durch die Erhaltung von Baumveteranen in unserer Kulturlandschaft wird nicht nur die Lebensgrundlage dieser besonderen Käferarten geschützt, sondern Hunderte weiterer Insektenarten behalten dadurch ebenfalls ihren Lebensraum.

Whilst the geographical range of species is a fundamental unit of macroecology and a leading predictor of extinction risk, the evolutionary dynamics of species’ ranges remain poorly understood. In some aquatic beetles, thermal niche has been shown to be related to both the relative range size and position of congeners but whether other physiological niche parameters play a role is unknown. Here, immunocompetence and metabolic plasticity were related to biogeography in these insects. Immunocompetence was first compared within a rare-common pair of Hydroporus species, finding species-specific immunity, which was affected by sex and acclimation time in the laboratory, with no clear relationship with rarity. This relationship was explored further in Deronectes species, whilst controlling for sex and acclimation time. Southern, narrow-ranging species had higher phenoloxidase (PO) activity, lower parasite load and antimicrobial peptide (AMP) activity that was stronger against Gram-negative Bacteria but weaker against Gram-positive Bacteria than their wider-ranging counterparts. As both of these studies found that PO activity did not positively correlate with encapsulation or AMP activity as reported in the literature, the pathway was investigated further in Tribolium castaneum. The data showed that the assumptions of the widely-used PO assay were violated, with differential activity between PO-driven reactions in melanin synthesis and different substrates used by larvae and adults. Future work should be wary of using the PO assay as a marker of potential melanin production and take into account the developmental requirements for melanin at different life stages. The relationship between metabolic plasticity and range was then assessed in Deronectes, finding that southerly species had more marked changes in glucose and protein content under elevated temperature stress than their northerly counterparts. Glucose content was also significantly positively correlated to lipid content, indicating that the energetics of species exhibiting differing range sizes may warrant future study. As the results from Hydroporus suggested that there may be trade-offs between immune defence and metabolism, the data on metabolic plasticity and immunocompetence in a sub-sample of Deronectes species were combined with thermal physiology, dispersal ability, body size and phylogenetic relatedness to assess which of these best explained variation in range size and position. Whilst variation in range extent and position were explained in part by thermal physiology, aspects of metabolic plasticity and immunocompetence also appeared to be important. This thesis provides one of the first indications that immunocompetence and metabolic plasticity may be related to geographical range and suggests parameters that may be worthy of exploration in other taxa.

Cette thèse traite de l’évolution, de l’adaptation et de la spéciation en milieu souterrain, en utilisant le genre Anthroherpon comme modèle. Ce genre appartient à la tribu des Leptodirini (Leiodidae Cholevinae), un groupe qui a connu une remarquable diversification dans le domaine souterrain. Toutes ses espèces ont développé des modifications troglomorphiques spectaculaires: anophthamie, aptérisme, élongation extrême des appendices, de la tête et du pronotum, et physogastrie. Pour comprendre l’histoire évolutive du groupe, ces adaptations troglomorphiques ont été replacées dans un cadre phylogénétique. La thèse est une analyse de la radiation évolutive des Anthroherpon, dans le cadre d’une phylogénie moléculaire datée, qui a permis de mieux comprendre les modalités de diversification du genre, de reconstruire son aire de distribution ancestrale, d’explorer la diversité des évolutions troglomorphiques en son sein et de proposer une nouvelle structure taxonomique du groupe. / The PhD research project focus on the study of evolution, adaptation, and speciation in the subterranean environment using troglobitic Coleoptera of the genus Anthroherpon as a model. Genus Anthroherpon belongs to the tribe Leptodirini (Coleoptera: Leiodidae: Cholevinae), a group that has undergone extensive diversification in the subterranean environment. All species of this genus have developed typical troglomorphic modifications: complete anophthalmy, apterism, extreme elongation of appendages, head, and pronotum, and physogastric elytra. To understand the evolutionary history of this group, the troglomorphic adaptations need to be studied in a phylogenetic framework. The thesis provide a comprehensive evolutionary analysis of the Anthroherpon radiation, using a dated molecular phylogeny as framework for understanding Anthroherpon diversification, reconstructing the ancestral range, and exploring troglomorphic diversity. In light of these findings, a new taxonomical organisation of the group has been proposed.