bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Brood ball construction by the non‐brooding CopriniSulcophanaeus carnifexandDichotomius torulosus(Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae)
Authors: KLEMPERER H. G. 
Published: March 2008

ABSTRACT.Feeding burrows made byS.carnifexandD.torulosusadults consisted of tunnels filled with sausage‐shaped masses of dung. Brood balls were made by taking fragments of dung from an adjacent feeding burrow and aggregating them into a small sphere which was gradually enlarged and then coated with soil.S.carnifexadult females showed no response to their own eggs (unlikeCopris lunaris:Klemperer, H.G. (1982)Ecological Erltonzology, 7, 155–167).S.carnifexlarvae made and maintained an air channel to the upper pole of the ball and they are in this respect preadapted to receive parental care.Compared with a brood mass, a brood ball was less likely to be attacked by Meptoparasitic larvae. The soil coat retarded drying of the brood ball by increasing the total mass of moisturecontaining material.
Ecophysiological aspects of bruchid reproduction. I. The influence of pod maturity and seeds of Phaseolus vulgaris and the influence of insemination on the reproductive activity ofZabrotes subfasciatus
Authors: PIMBERT MICHEL P. , PIERRE DOMINIQUE 
Published: March 2008

ABSTRACT.

Economically important bruchid beetles like Zabrotes sub‐fasciatus (Boh.) are able to reproduce both in the field before the legume crop harvest – whilst the seeds are still enclosed within pods – and on seeds in storage sites.
To take into account this reproductive feature, the influence of pods at different stages of maturity and seeds of Phaseolus vulgaris (Lin.) together with the influence of insemination on the reproductive activity of Zabrotes subfasciatus were examined.
Female fecundity, insemination and ovarian production were studied under laboratory conditions approximating as closely as possible to the thermal and photoperiodic regimes of the Costa Rican region from which the experimental strain originated.
The three stages of pod maturity used in experiments (fresh green, fresh yellow and dry yellow pods, all non‐dehiscent) induced copulations and significantly stimulated oogenesis. Fecundities of females in the presence of pods were low and did not differ from controls.
The influence of bean seeds on female reproductive activity was more pronounced than that of pods. Contact with seeds led to a marked increase in the number of sexual meetings, ovarian production and egg‐laying activity. Under these conditions, eggs are laid directly on the larvae's food.
Insemination alone stimulated oogenesis but did not induce egg‐laying.
Possible additive or synergistic interactions between host plant information perceived by females, the effects of egg‐laying and insemination are suggested to explain the observed results.
The adaptive value of this form of reproductive regulation by host plant seeds and pods is discussed in terms of the natural history and oviposition behaviour of Zabrotes subfasciatus.
Pupal colour dimorphism in California Battus philenor: pupation sites, environmental control, and diapause linkage
Authors: SIMS S. R. , SHAPIRO A. M. 
Published: March 2008

ABSTRACT.

Natural pupation sites and corresponding pupal colour (green or brown) were determined for samples of Battus philenor (L.) from two Californian populations.
Larvae pupate off the ground on trees, shrubs and man‐made objects.
The vertical distribution of pupation sites and relative frequencies of pupae formed on narrow twigs and broad substrates show interpopulation variability, and seem to be determined by habitat‐specific and possibly behavioural differences among populations.
The percentage of‘mismatched’pupae in green leafy environments (brown) is greater than that on wide substrates (green). Heterogeneity in samples of the latter suggest strong but sporadic predation pressure on non‐cryptic pupae in exposed areas.
Green and brown substrates generally promoted formation of cryptic green and brown pupae although rearing conditions modified pupal colour response to substrate colour and larval pupation site choice.
Warm temperatures and long days increased the production of brown pupae. Short photoperiods increased the tendency of larvae to pupate on narrow twig‐like substrates and to form green pupae.
Green pupae show less tendency to diapause than brown pupae. The difference between percentage diapause in the two colour forms increases under conditions favouring progressively more continuous development.
Arthropod accumulation on tea in young and old habitats
Authors: BANERJEE BARUNDEB 
Published: March 2008

ABSTRACT.

A comparison is made of the number of species of arthropods that inhabit tea plants in young and old habitats. Tea plants of comparable age harbour more species in old habitats than in young habitats.
In both young and old habitats, there is an initial rise in the number of arthropod species on young tea upto 11 years: in the intermediate phase, i.e. between 12 and 21 years, a sharp decline in species numbers occurs followed by a rapid increase between 22 and 36 years, and a final drop after 36 years. These phases are characterized by sap‐feeding mites and insects; leaf eaters and defoliators; stem and root borers; and termites and wood‐eating insects respectively.
Attracting abilities of the plants of different age‐groups vary according to their morphological, and physiological attributes depending on their locations in young and old habitats.
Diverse species of arthropods coexist on tea by developing their own niches in different parts of plants; they apparently avoid interspecific competition by maintaining their numbers at low density.
Cyanide as a feeding stimulant for the southern army worm, Spodoptera eridania
Authors: BRATTSTEN L. B. , SAMUELIAN J. H. , LONG K. Y. , KINCAID S. A. , EVANS C. K. 
Published: March 2008

ABSTRACT.

All instars of Spodoptera eridania larvae grow as well or better when cyanide is present in their diet as when it is absent. Concentrations up to 0.05% stimulate feeding in first to fourth instar larvae. Concentrations from 0.1% to 1.0% stimulate feeding in fifth and sixth instar larvae.
Three‐day‐old sixth instar larvae pre‐exposed to cyanide are completely resistant to its acutely toxic effects, but previously unexposed larvae suffer reversible symptoms of poisoning when feeding on a diet containing 1.0% KCN.
A 1.0% dietary KCN exposure during the sixth instar reduces ecdysis to 17% adult emergence and completely inhibits oviposition.
Cyanide concentrations from 0.5% to 1.0% in the diet, although effecting increased growth rates, induce necrotic lesions in larval mid‐gut epithelial cells.
Thiocyanate, one of the in vivo cyanide metabolites, at 0.5% in the diet reduces pupation to 23%, delays and reduces adult emergence to 20% and inhibits oviposition.
The preferred host plant of S.eridania is the lima bean, Phaseolus lunatus, probably due to its content of the cyanogenic glycoside linamarin. Dietary valine has no effect on the southern armyworm feeding and growth behaviour (Long & Brattsten, 1982) but dietary cyanide does. The lima bean is known to contain up to 31 ppm cyanide in some varieties.
Orientation behaviour in the Grayling butterfly: thermoregulation or crypsis?
Authors: FINDLAY ROBIN , YOUNG MARK R. , FINDLAY JOHN A. 
Published: March 2008

ABSTRACT.

Body orientation and wing tilting in Hipparchia semele (L.) have been explained previously both by the need for shadow‐minimization (crypsis hypothesis) and by the need to regulate body temperature (thermoregulation hypothesis).
This study tests the thermoregulation hypothesis by quantifying butterfly orientation in relation to sun position, using vector analysis, and correlating the data with ambient temperature and time of day.
During sunshine, Graylings tend to present a maximal wing area to the sun's rays when the ambient temperature is relatively low, and a minimal area when it is high ('sunning’and‘heat‐avoiding’positions respectively).
On cool sunny days, butterflies adopt sunning positions throughout the day, whereas on warm sunny days they adopt sunning positions during the outlying periods and heat‐avoiding positions in the middle period of the day. Correlations between wing exposure and both ambient temperature and time of day are statistically significant for warm sunny days.
During overcast weather, butterfly orientation is very variable and possibly random.
Analysis of sunny day data supports the thermoregulation hypothesis. This is discussed in relation to other known types of thermoregulatory behaviour observed in this species: stilting, shade‐seeking, ground‐hugging and shivering.
Conversely, the results do not support the crypsis hypothesis.
Estimating the susceptibility of tree species to attack by the gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar
Authors: LECHOWICZ MARTIN J. , JOBIN LUC 
Published: March 2008

ABSTRACT.

Numbers of gypsy moth larvae feeding on each of 922 randomly sampled trees in a Quercus—Acer—Fraxinus forest in southwestern Quebec, Canada were counted in 1979 and in 1980 to quantify the larval feeding preferences as observed in the field for eighteen deciduous and one coniferous tree species at the northern range limit of the gypsy moth.
Both the diameter at breast height (dbh) and the estimated foliage biomass of the sampled trees were used to calculate the relative proportions of foliage represented by each of the nineteen tree species in the forest canopy. With these data on availability and utilization of the tree species by the gypsy moth larvae an Ivlev‐type electivity index was used to quantify the larval feeding preferences. These preferences observed in the field define the susceptibility of a tree species to attack by the gypsy moth.
The feeding preferences calculated using estimated foliage biomass were comparable to the simpler calculation based on dbh (Spearman's rho = 0.79; P= 0.0001). The dbh‐based feeding preferences remained almost unchanged in 1979 and 1980 (Spearman's rho = 0.83; P= 0.0001).
The composite 1979—80, dbh‐based feeding preferences show Quercus rubra, Populus grandidentata, Ostrya virginiana, Amelanchier spp. and Acer saccharum were preferentially attacked by gypsy moth. Prunus serotina, Betula lutea, Acer rubrum, A. pensylvanicum, Fraxinus americana, Ulmus rubra, P. pensylvanicum and B. papyrifera were avoided. All nineteen tree species were, however, utilized to at least some degree by gypsy moth larvae.
These results quantitatively affirm and clarify earlier reports of gypsy moth feeding preferences in North America and Eurasia. The advantages and limitations of using an electivity index to estimate the susceptibility of different tree species to attack by folivores like the gypsy moth are discussed.
Asymmetrical competition and amensalism through soil dumping by the ant, Myrmicaria natalensis
Authors: SAMWAYS M. J. 
Published: March 2008

ABSTRACT.

Myrmicaria natalensis (Smith) (Hym: Formicidae) is a large, predaceous ant that excavates large amounts of soil during nest construction.
During the winter, 25% of its nests went extinct through resistance and aggression from allospecific ants. The remaining 75% thrived, although one nest was forced to move, but did not go extinct, through intense competition.
The surviving fifteen M.natalensis nests obliterated forty‐one allospecific nests by covering them with excavated soil.
During spring, M.natalensis nests expanded rapidly and none went extinct, so there was no longer asymmetrical competition but total amensalism in favour of M.natalensis.
Implications for ant management are that control by trunk banding of honeydew‐seeking ants will increase asymmetry towards M.natalensis through positive feedback. This is desirable in that M.natalensis is a highly predaceous ant of pests such as lepidopteran larvae.
Influence of environmental factors on daily flight activity of the filbertworm,Melissopus latiferreanus(Lepidoptera, Olethreutidae)
Authors: ALINIAZEE M. T. 
Published: March 2008

ABSTRACT.Flight ofMelissopus latiferreanus (Walsinghzm), the filbertworm, was influenced by a number of environmental factors including temperature, wind, and rainfall.FewM. latiferreanusmoths were trapped in light or suction traps or found in sweep nets samples when air temperatures were above 31°C or below 15°C. Moth captures were optimum when prevailing temperature was between 21 and 26°C.Typically moth flights began at about sunset and continued throughout the night with a peak at 22.00 hours, about an hour after sunset.Very few moths were trapped under showery and gusty conditions when wind velocity was over 16km h−1.More moths were captured in light traps during dark nights than on full moon nights. The pattern of captures indicated that females flew earlier than males.
Divergence in larval responses to food plants between temperate and tropical populations of the black swallowtail butterfly
Authors: BLAU WILLIAM S. , FEENY PAUL 
Published: March 2008

ABSTRACT.

Larvae of the black swallowtail butterfly, Papilio polyxenes Fabr., from New York and Costa Rica were reared under the same environmental conditions on Daucus carota L. and Spananthe paniculata Jacq. (Umbelliferae), which are the host plants most commonly used by the two populations, respectively. Feeding rates, growth rates and feeding efficiencies of the fifth instar larvae were measured by standard techniques.
Larvae from each population grew faster on the host‐plant species from their region of origin than did larvae from the other population, though differences on S.paniculata were not significant. On D.carota the faster growth by New York larvae was attributable to greater efficiency. On S.paniculata, by contrast, the somewhat faster growth by Costa Rican larvae seemed to have resulted chiefly from faster feeding. The two populations have thus come to differ in metabolic and, probably, behavioural responses to host plants.
S.paniculata was a superior host plant for larvae of both populations, even though the total energy, nitrogen and water content of its foliage was similar to that of D.carota.
These results are consistent with the hypothesis that insects in the two populations have diverged in adaptation to their host plants following curtailment of gene flow between them as the species colonized Central America from the north.
Energy expenditure and food intake of territorial male Pachydiplax longipennis (Odonata: Libellulidae)
Authors: FRIED CAREN S. , MAY MICHAEL L. 
Published: March 2008

ABSTRACT.

Field observations of males of the dragonfly, Pachydiplax longipennis (Burmeister), were used to determine how individuals of this species allocate energy to different activities during territory occupancy.
The effects of biological and physical factors on the species’daily activity pattern were examined. The proportion of time spent in flight was independent of temperature but increased asymptotically with increasing population density.
Measurements of assimilation efficiency and the quantity of faeces produced per day were used to calculate daily intake of food. An independent estimate of food consumption was derived from data on gut contents and clearance rate.
Food intake appears to exceed only slightly the energy required to maintain a territory, with little available for other activities. The activity pattern may be determined in part by the amount of energy available to individuals.
Auchenorrhyncha‐host plant interactions: leafhoppers and grasses
Authors: PRESTIDGE R. A. , McNEILL S. 
Published: March 2008

ABSTRACT.

Grass nutrient levels differed considerably between the grass species and with time.
Most species of leafhopper (Homoptera, Auchenorrhyncha) were present on all the grasses sampled but each grass had a different dominant leaf‐hopper fauna.
The leafhopper—plant association varied depending on the leafhopper species. Species that were strongly associated with one host were rare. Other more oligophagous species were associated with a particular nitrogen level in the grass. These species were found on grasses that had nitrogen concentrations within a narrow range. As the plant nitrogen levels altered (associated with flowering, seed setting, and senescence) leafhoppers switched onto other food plants that had a suitable nitrogen level. An intermediate group of leafhoppers showed little specificity and little association with plant nitrogen levels.
Sugaring for moths: why are noctuids attracted more than geometrids?
Authors: UTRIO PIRKKA 
Published: March 2008

ABSTRACT.

The attraction of nocturnal moths (Noctuidae and Geometridae) to fermenting sugar baits and to volatile organic compounds formed in these baits was studied by field trapping in South Finland.
In general, noctuids were attracted synergistically to these compounds (i.e. a mixture of compounds attracted more moths than the summed attraction of the components of the mixture predicted). Geometrids were not attracted synergistically. A similar pattern, with a few exceptions, was obtained by specific evaluation of forty‐one noctuid and fifteen geometrid species.
The degree of synergistic response was correlated with the general morphology of the moths. The robust species (proportionally large thorax and small wings; most of the Noctuidae) were attracted synergistically, while the slender species (proportionally small thorax and large wings; most of the Geometridae) were only weakly or not at all attracted synergistically.
The ecological background of the morphology‐related synergism is discussed. It is suggested that the energy demands of the robust species are substantially higher than those of the slender species, thus leading to different foraging strategies.
Aggregation in field parasitoid populations: foraging time allocation by a population of Diadegma (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae)
Authors: WAAGE JEFFREY K. 
Published: March 2008

ABSTRACT.

A field study was made of foraging time allocation by a population of parasitic wasps, Diadegma spp. (Ichneumonidae), to plants containing different densities of their hosts, the caterpillars of Plutella xylostella (L.).
The parasitoid population exhibited a clear aggregative response, spending more total time on higher density patches, which probably resulted from wasps making more and longer visits to these densities.
Despite this aggregation, positive density dependent parasitism was not found. The functional response of the Diadegma population exhibited an upper asymptote at high host densities, probably due to an increase in the proportion of time spent handling hosts, which countered the effect of aggregation.
While Diadegma may select and forage preferentially on plants with higher host density, they do not exhibit the tendency, predicted by some optional foraging models, to exploit progressively less profitable plants during a foraging bout. Some factors affecting patterns of parasitoid foraging in the field are discussed.
Thermal constraints on activity patterns in nectar‐feeding insects
Authors: WILLMER P. G. 
Published: March 2008

ABSTRACT.

All the insects visiting Tilia and Heracleum flowers showed diel patterns of activity, which could best be explained in terms of weather. Of the recorded parameters, solar radiation gave the best correlations with activity.
Correlations between activity and radiation depended on the size and colour of particular groups of insects; small bright species visited fully insolated flowers, (r high), while large dark forms visited early and late in the day (r low or negative).
Consequently mean reflectance and mean weight of foragers showed consistent trends through a day and predictable relations with radiation for both flowers, suggesting that thermal costs are a critical determinant of feeding times.
By contrast, the nectar reward (as sugar amounts) in flowers was poorly correlated with timing of insect visits, indicating that caloric reward is not limiting; although nectar concentration (only measurable for Tilia) did correlate reasonably well with total visitation.
The exception to this pattern was Bombus. This endothermic species visited early in the day when nectar was abundant. Thus visits correlated well with reward and negatively with radiation, showing a dependence on high rewards to offset thermoregulatory metabolic costs.
For most insects foraging appeared to be largely determined by the visitors thermal requirements and the restrictions imposed by avoidance of overheating. Nectar rewards were not critical, and nectar concentration, itself dependent upon climatic parameters, was probably only incidentally correlated with diel patterning for all but the largest (endothermic) insects.
Seasonal abundance during the summer months of some cattle‐visiting Muscidae (Diptera) in northeast England
Authors: BALL STUART G. 
Published: March 2008

Abstract. 1. Regular samples of flies swarming around cattle in Northumberland, England, were collected from late May to early October 1980–82, during weather judged to be suitable for fly activity.2. Results were grouped into weekly periods and averaged to reduce variation caused by the weather.3. For all species of Muscidae that were caught in reasonable numbers, the changes in abundance through the season are described.4. The proportion of each species in the total sample is discussed; biting species were not sampled as efficiently as were non‐biting species. Hydrotaea trritans and Morellia simplex were the most numerous species forming 49% and 32% of the catch respectively.5. The total numbers of flies were low at the beginning of the sampling period, rose to a maximum in mid‐July, stayed high until mid‐September and then declined by October.
The causes of over wintering mortality of Phyllonorycter on Quercus robur
Authors: CONNOR EDWARD F. 
Published: March 2008

Abstract. 1. An experiment was performed to examine the relationship between overwintering mortality rates and physical conditions in the leaf litter for Phyllonorycter spp. on Quercus robur.2. Analyses also were performed to determine if survival and mortality rates vary with leaf size and the position of a leaf mine within a leaf.3. The results indicate that survival rates are independent of variation in physical conditions in the leaf litter, as well as leaf size and the position of a mine on a leaf.4. Mortality from leaf decomposition was higher at the bottom of the litter pack, and it may compensate for reduced mortality from predation, crushing, desiccation, and fungal attack at the level.5. Rates of parasitism were significantly higher on small than on large leaves.
Predictability, toxicity, and trophic niche breadth in fungus‐feeding Drosophilidae (Diptera)
Authors: LACY ROBERT C. 
Published: March 2008

Abstract. 1. The mycophagous Drosophilidae flies in eastern North America display a range of ecological responses to their fungal trophic resources. Some (Drosophilu duncani Sturtevant, and two species labelled as Mycodrosophila cluytonae Wheeler and Takada) specialize on the bracket fungi of the family Polyporaceae. Other species (Drosophila falleni Wheeler, D.recens Wheeler, D.putridu Sturtevant and D.tripunctuta Loew) are broad generalists, non‐selectively consuming a diverse array of Basidioniycete mushrooms. D.restaceu von Roser and D.ordinuria Coquillett utilize a broad subset of the Basidio‐mycetes, while M.dimidiata hew feeds on some Basidioniycetes, including a variety of Clavariaceae (coral fungi) and Heterobasidiomycetes (jelly fungi) not commonly used by other flies, and Ascomycetes (cup fungi).2. Unlike some phytophagous insects, host chemistry seems to have little effect on host preferences. The mycophagous drosophilids do not avoid fungi thought to be toxic or undigestible to other Diptera.3. Resource predictability appears to delimit trophic niches in the mycophagous guild. The average duration of individual host mushroom caps is negatively correlated with three measures of trophic niche breadth. Specialist fly species utilize long‐lasting resources, while more generalized mycophagous species include progressively ephemeral fungi in their diets.