Rolf G. Beutel (Author)
Katharina Schneeberg (Author)
In this article we review the role of Coleoptera in Charles Darwin‘s life and scientific work. Darwin was an enthusiastic amateur beetle collector since his studies in Cambridge. He used beetles to illustrate different evolutionary phenomena in his major works, and astonishingly, an entire sub-chapter is dedicated to beetles in ―The Descent of Man‖, mainly in the context of sexual selection. Even though he clearly recognized natural selection as the decisive driving force of evolution, he conceded that non-use may have been involved in the loss of wings in beetles. He also contemplates whether accidental mutilations of the fore legs of scarab beetles may be hereditary. During his voyage on the Beagle, Darwin collected numerous beetles of various terrestrial and aquatic families. He was impressed by the high diversity of beetles in the tropics and expressed, to his surprise, that the majority of species were small and inconspicuous. He observed that predacious beetles and carrion feeders are rare in the tropics, and assumed that they might be largely replaced by spiders and ―rapacious‖ Hymenoptera. In contrast to his profound monographies on cirripedian systematics, he never got involved in beetle taxonomy. His theoretical works had little immediate impact on beetle systematics but their long term effect and his beetle passion inspired coleopterists over the centuries to endeavour a classification of the megadiverse order which truly reflects evolution.
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