Life History, Aggregation and Dormancy of the Rubber Plantation Litter Beetle, Luprops tristis, from the Rubber Plantations of Moist South Western Ghats
TL;DR: Life history, aggregation and dormancy of rubber plantation litter beetle Luprops tristis Fabricius, (Tenebrionidae: Coleoptera) is described from rubber plantation belts in the western slopes of Western Ghats from the south Indian state of Kerala.
Abstract: Life history, aggregation and dormancy of rubber plantation litter beetle Luprops tristis Fabricius, (Tenebrionidae: Coleoptera) is described from rubber plantation belts in the western slopes of Western Ghats from the south Indian state of Kerala. The life cycle lasted 12 months, including the 5 larval instars lasting 1 month, the 3 day pupal stage, and the adult stage that can last 11 months. The adult stage includes an inactive dormancy phase of 9 months in shelters and 1 month each of active pre-dormancy (feeding) and post-dormancy (feeding and reproduction) phases that occur in rubber plantation litter. Reproductive activities are confined to the post-dormancy phase. With the onset of summer rains, huge aggregations of adults invade residential buildings and enter into a state of dormancy for 9 months. Beetle aggregations were in the range of 0.5 million to 4.5 million individuals per residential building. Dormancy in L. tristis is best classified as oligopause, which is intermediate between quiescence and diapause. Adults and larvae feed preferentially on wilted rubber tree leaves. Age-specific variation in mortality during dormancy is distinct with higher survivability for adults that have a longer pre-dormancy period. Generations are non-overlapping.
Citations
More filters
TL;DR: The results showed that lifespan, weight gain, acoustic mate signalling and egg production were maximized on diets with different P : C ratios, that phosphorus did not positively affect any of these fitness traits, and that males and females had different optimal macronutrient intake ratios for reproductive performance.
Abstract: Phosphorus has been identified as an important determinant of nutrition-related biological variation. The macronutrients protein (P) and carbohydrates (C), both alone and interactively, are known to affect animal performance. No study, however, has investigated the importance of phosphorus relative to dietary protein or carbohydrates, or the interactive effects of phosphorus with these macronutrients, on fitness-related traits in animals. We used a nutritional geometry framework to address this question in adult field crickets (Gryllus veletis). Our results showed that lifespan, weight gain, acoustic mate signalling and egg production were maximized on diets with different P : C ratios, that phosphorus did not positively affect any of these fitness traits, and that males and females had different optimal macronutrient intake ratios for reproductive performance. When given a choice, crickets selected diets that maximized both lifespan and reproductive performance by preferentially eating diets with low P : C ratios, and females selected diets with a higher P : C ratio than males. Conversely, phosphorus intake was not regulated. Overall, our findings highlight the importance of disentangling the influences of different nutrients, and of quantifying both their individual and interactive effects, on animal fitness traits, so as to gain a more integrative understanding of their nutritional ecology.
102 citations
TL;DR: The seasonality of litter insect abundance and its relationship with rainfall was analyzed in a wet evergreen forest on the windward side of south Western Ghats and Coleoptera was the dominant group in all seasons.
Abstract: The seasonality of litter insect abundance and its relationship with rainfall was analyzed in a wet evergreen forest on the windward side of south Western Ghats. Monthly litter samples were collected using Berlese funnels during 4 seasons of a year: southwest monsoon season June—August), northeast monsoon season (September—November), summer (March -May) and pre-summer season (December—February). Insect fauna as a whole showed no seasonal variation in abundance, however, some individual insect orders showed significant seasonal variation. Overall insect fauna and individual orders were distributed independently relative to rainfall. All insect orders with the exception of Psocoptera were present during all four seasons. Coleoptera (42%) was the dominant group in all seasons followed by Formicidae (12.3%), insect larvae (10.1%), Collembola (9.2%) and Thysanoptera (8.9%). Exceptionally high abundance of Ptiliidae contributed to the unprecedented abundance of litter Coleoptera. The aseasonality of litter insect fauna as a whole is attributed to year-round availability of rainfall and the absence of severe summer conditions.
56 citations
Cites background from "Life History, Aggregation and Dorma..."
...…and Allen 2004; Nakamura and Numata 2006; Anu 2006; Danks 2006; Vineesh 2007), however, the onset of rain is the major factor (Levings and Windsor 1982, Levings and Windsor 1985; Lowman 1982; Wolda and Denlinger 1984; Wolda 1988; Boinski and Fowler 1989; Frith and Frith 1990; Sabu et al. 2008)....
[...]
TL;DR: Support for an anticipatory mechanism in a eusocial species, the honey bee, is found for the first time and results suggest that this mechanism may play a role in honey bee queen–worker differentiation and worker division of labor, both of which are related to the responses to nutritional stress.
Abstract: Most organisms are constantly faced with environmental changes and stressors. In diverse organisms, there is an anticipatory mechanism during development that can program adult phenotypes. The adult phenotype would be adapted to the predicted environment that occurred during organism maturation. However, whether this anticipatory mechanism is present in eusocial species is questionable because eusocial organisms are largely shielded from exogenous conditions by their stable nest environment. In this study, we tested whether food deprivation during development of the honey bee (Apis mellifera), a eusocial insect model, can shift adult phenotypes to better cope with nutritional stress. After subjecting fifth instar worker larvae to short-term starvation, we measured nutrition-related morphology, starvation resistance, physiology, endocrinology and behavior in the adults. We found that the larval starvation caused adult honey bees to become more resilient toward starvation. Moreover, the adult bees were characterized by reduced ovary size, elevated glycogen stores and juvenile hormone (JH) titers, and decreased sugar sensitivity. These changes, in general, can help adult insects survive and reproduce in food-poor environments. Overall, we found for the first time support for an anticipatory mechanism in a eusocial species, the honey bee. Our results suggest that this mechanism may play a role in honey bee queen-worker differentiation and worker division of labor, both of which are related to the responses to nutritional stress.
51 citations
TL;DR: Fruit fly-host associations and infestation rates over 5 yr in the state of Bahia, Brazil, is documented by systematically collecting native and introduced fruits in backyard and commercial orchards, experimental stations, and patches of native vegetation.
Abstract: We documented fruit fly-host associations and infestation rates over 5 yr in the state of Bahia, Brazil, by systematically collecting native and introduced fruits in backyard and commercial orchards, experimental stations, and patches of native vegetation Fruit were collected in multiple sites in the southern and southernmost regions of Bahia A total of 94222 kg from 27 fruit species in 15 plant families was collected throughout this study Of these, 15 plant species from six families were infested by Anastrepha species A total of 11,614 fruit flies was reared from the fruit (5,178 females and 6,436 males) No specimens of Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) were recovered Eleven Anastrepha species were recovered from the collected fruit: Anastrepha antunesi Lima (004%), Anastrepha distincta Greene (01%), Anastrepha fraterculus (Wiedemann) (535%), Anastrepha leptozona Hendel (45%), Anastrepha manihoti Lima (01%), Anastrepha montei Lima (10%), Anastrepha obliqua (Macquart) (330%), Anastreph
46 citations
TL;DR: Results indicate that feeding of B. tabaci induced a defense in tobacco plants against M. persicae, both locally and systemically, although other mechanisms may also be involved.
Abstract: Myzus persicae and Bemisia tabaci are serious pests of tobacco and can occur simultaneously on the same plant. We found that tobacco plants infested by whiteflies had fewer aphids than those without whiteflies. To determine whether B. tabaci feeding could induce plant defense against aphids locally and systemically, we determined the effects of B. tabaci on several biological parameters of M. persicae on tobacco. Infestation of B. tabaci nymphs reduced survival rates of M. persicae by 30.0%. In three generations, M. persicae populations increased 1,091-fold on uninfested plants compared with 222-fold on the plants with whiteflies. On the upper leaves with systemic damage but uninfested B. tabaci, the survival rate of aphids was 9.3-fold lower than that on plants that were never been infested by whitefly. Survival rates of M. persicae on leaves with whiteflies present or with whiteflies removed were also lower than those on uninfested leaves. Fecundity of M. persicae was not different on leaves wi...
34 citations
References
More filters
TL;DR: A comparison of insect diapause with other forms of dormancy in plants and animals suggests that upregulation of a subset of heat shock protein genes may be one feature common to different types of dormancies.
Abstract: Environmental and hormonal regulators of diapause have been reasonably well defined, but our understanding of the molecular regulation of diapause remains in its infancy. Though many genes are shut down during diapause, others are specifically expressed at this time. Classes of diapause-upregulated genes can be distinguished based on their expression patterns: Some are upregulated throughout diapause, and others are expressed only in early diapause, late diapause, or intermittently throughout diapause. The termination of diapause is accompanied by a rapid decline in expression of the diapause-upregulated genes and, conversely, an elevation in expression of many genes that were downregulated during diapause. A comparison of insect diapause with other forms of dormancy in plants and animals suggests that upregulation of a subset of heat shock protein genes may be one feature common to different types of dormancies.
1,052 citations
606 citations
TL;DR: The primary objective in this review is to dispell this myth by presenting evidence for the widespread existence of diapause among tropical species, and to identify factors implicated in regulation and some of the special problems of diAPause in the tropics.
Abstract: Diapause is frequently viewed as a developmental strategy unique to insects of the temperate zone. My primary objective in this review is to dispell this myth by presenting evidence for the widespread existence of diapause among tropical species. Although the environmental regulators are still poorly defined, I attempt to identify factors implicated in regulation and some of the special problems of diapause in the tropics. For purposes of this review I restrict my discussion to insects living within 200 of the equator, but clearly this is an arbitrary line. Winter in temperate zones presents a conspicuous obstacle, and a wealth of studies examine diapause as an adaptation to circumvent this inimical period. Reviews have focused on diapause physiology (72), endocrinology (19,31, 129), ecology (22, 24, 25, 115, 116), genetics (55), evolution (12, 33), thermoperiodism (6), clock mechanisms (5, 102), and cold tolerance (37, 101). Masaki's review on summer diapause (76) is especially relevant to this review because the warm summer of the temperate zone is much akin to the tropical environment. Although there are many definitions of diapause, I use the term to refer to an arrest in development that occurs at a specific stage. Egg, larval, pupal, and adult diapauses are all well documented, but for most species diapause can be expressed in only one stage of the life cycle. Diapause is programmed far in advance of the actual developmental arrest and thus differs from a simple quiescence that is an immediate response to adverse conditions. For some tropical species the information available is too sketchy to allow adequate
337 citations
TL;DR: A new classification of dormancies in insects is proposed on the basis of the evolutionary nature of dormancy, its synchronization with the aetiology of the species for their phenological advantage, the nature of ecological adversity, and the consequent physiological and biochemical adjustments.
Abstract: A new classification of dormancy in insects is proposed on the basis of the evolutionary nature of dormancy, its synchronization with the aetiology of the species for their phenological advantage, the nature of ecological adversity, and the consequent physiological and biochemical adjustments. The roles of the above factors in the induction and termination of dormancies are discussed. The inadequacies of all the previous systems of describing various conditions of dormancy are pointed out.All instances of dormancy are divided into three major groups: hibernation, aestivation, and athermopause. Each of these classes is further subdivided into three categories representing a sequence of evolutionary adaptations: quiescence, oligopause, and diapause, in that order of evolutionary development. Depending upon the physiological condition of diapausing individuals or populations, two diapause states are recognized: teleodiapause and ateleodiapause. Each term is defined and discussed with examples.
237 citations
"Life History, Aggregation and Dorma..." refers background or result in this paper
...…the preparatory phase is succeeded by a typically long refractive phase and the insects cannot terminate diapause and continue morphological development even if exposed to optimal environmental conditions during this stage (Mansingh 1971; Tauber and Tauber 1976; Denlinger 1986, 2002; Danks 1987)....
[...]
...The periods of short duration nocturnal dispersal and diurnal passivity prior to and after dormancy is characterized as the refractory and termination periods respectively (Mansingh 1971; Danks 1987)....
[...]
...Either the reproductive organs in L. tristis do not mature until the field return or the beetles are undergoing reproductive diapause (Danks 1987; Mansingh 1971), similar to what is reported during the dormancy in S.rotundus (Wolda and Denlinger 1984)....
[...]
...The term quiescence is used in situations with a shorter period and no induction phase and with active feeding throughout the stage (Mansingh 1971; Danks 1987)....
[...]
...In classical dormancy, the preparatory phase is succeeded by a typically long refractive phase and the insects cannot terminate diapause and continue morphological development even if exposed to optimal environmental conditions during this stage (Mansingh 1971; Tauber and Tauber 1976; Denlinger 1986, 2002; Danks 1987)....
[...]