Notes on Food-Habits and Behavior in Selected Orthopteroidea of Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain L

Notes on food-habits and behavior in selected Orthopteroidea of Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain l S. K. GANGWERE The idand of Tenerife presents certain unusual faunal, floral, and other features, and has a comparatively large and diversified orthopteroid fauna. During the last half century many publications have appea- red that deal, in part, with these insects. Among the more salient are reports by CHOPARD(1942, 1946, 1954), GANGWERE,MORALES, and Mo- RALES (1972), GARDNER(1 960), HOLZAPFEL(1 970), WILLEMSE (193 6, 1949, 1950), WILLEMSEand BRUIJNING(1949), and UVAROV(1948). They provide a fauna1 list and scattered notes on habits and distribution. Ho- wever, surprisingly little is known about the biology of most species. To- ward the partial elimination of that gap in our knowledge 1 undertook, during July and August, 1970, a pilot study of behavior in selected species, the results of which are presented below. The Canarian Archipelago, a number of volcanic islands off the Atlan- tic coast of Africa, is situated approximately 195 kilometers from Cape Juby (Rio de Oro), 1,111 kilometers from Gibraltar, and near the Tropic of Cancer. The shores are washed by the Gulf Stream and blown by the northeasterly trade winds. Consequently, the climate is mild and uniform, with reduced daily and seasonal changes in temperature, humidity, and wind. Tenerife, the largest island, is a triangular-shaped body of land with an area of approximately 2,000 square kilometers. It is characterized by great relief, having a central mountain range that divides it into climatic zones: a fertile, lushly vegetated northern zone of greater hurnidity and rainfail, and an arid southern zone, with reduced rainfall and supporting a xerophilic vegetation. Contact of the prevailing winds with the moun- tains, modified by elevation and exposure, results in the occurrence of several kinds of biotic communities including sublittoral scrub; laurel forest, pine forest, subalpine scrub, and alpine barrens, and is responsible for diverse microclimates. The foregoing is with respect to natural sections of the island, but inany parts are disturbed, being extensively cultivated with banana and other crops, and here and there urbanized. The resulting flora is an ad- mixture of native and introduced species, and is comprised largely of Mediterranean, endemic, and cosmopolitan elements, mostly of a tropical or subtropical nature (Lems, 1960). (1) This project was supported during the summer of 1970 by Grant No. 5560, Pen- rose Fuiid, American Philosophical Society, and by a Faculty Research Award from the Gra- duate Division of Wayne State University. 20 Miscelánea Zoológica STUDY AREAS 1 carried out field surveys in al1 sections of Tenerife to determine lo- cations for detailed investigation. Among the biogeographic zones 1 examined were the sublittoral scrub at Santa Cruz, El l\Iedano, Los Cristianos, Los Gigantes, Puerto de la Cruz, and Bajamar, the laurel forest in the Anaga Peninsula, the pine forest at La Esperanza, and the subalpine scrub at Las Cañadas del Teide. Certain of them proved too extensively cultivated or urbanized, were topographically unsuitable, or their orthopteroid fauna was seasonally reduced, so were eliminated from further study. Two sites proved especially suitable for detailed investigation. They were Los Cristianos, representative of the coast, and Las Cañadas, with eleva- tions in excess of 2,000 meters above sea level assuring special subalpine conditions. Los Cristianos, a village a few kilometers north of Punta de Rasca, at the southwestern corner of the island, is representative of the sublittoral scrub zone that occurs throughout the periphery of Tenerife but is best developed in the south. This is a hot, arid, rock-strewn zone of se- midesert populated by a reduced number of xerophilic, irregularly dis- tributed plants including prickly pear (Opzmtia), century plant (Agave), aloe (Aloe), many spurges (Euphorbia) , and ice plant (Mesembryanthe- mum). The station investigated in greatest detail is located along the old Los Cristianos - El Medano road, about 4 112 kilometers from Los Cris- tianos. 1 collected and determined the common plants that occur there, and found a number of species sufficiently available to serve, at that time of year (late summer), as orthopteroid foods. 1 prepared visual estimates of the latter, a listing of which follows (in order of decreasing availability): Vulpia myurus > Centaurea melitensis > Meseinbryanthemum crys- tallinum & Plantago psyllium > Schizogyne sericea > Euphorbia regis-jubae & Micromeria panata > Plocama pendula > Launaea spinosa & Opuntia ficus-indica & Nicotiana glauca Las Cañadas del Teide is a giant crater near the center of the island. It exceeds 2,000 nieters above sea level, and supports a subal@ine scrub comm,unity, chiefly of Spartocytisus nubigenus, a legunie shrub, interspersed with a few other broadleaved plants. This vegetation occurs in widely separated patches that take root in volcanic ash covered by sand and pumice, The station examined in greatest detail is adjacent to the Parador Nacional de Turismo, where, at that time of year, the potential orthopteroid foods are as follows (in order of decreasing availabitity): Spartocytisus nubigenus > Sisymbrium bourgaeanum > Pinus in- signis & Pterocephalus lasiospermus > Adenocarpus viscosus > Echium bourgaeanum METHODS 1 undertook the following activities: 1) Field observation, both day and night, to provide first-hand informa- tion on the insects' food selection, general behavior, and habitat occupancy. Notes on food-habits and behavior in selected ortliopteroidea 21 2) Analysis of mouthpart adaptation, to reveal the insects' gross food- habit. 1 collected, determined, and preserved in alcohol individuals of the severa1 common species, and later, in the laboratory, spread their mouthparts and examined the dentes in sitzt. 3) Analysis of crop contents, to disclose identifiable plant and animal remains. 1 dissected free and slit open the crops of the above insect specimens, emptied the contents onto rnicroscope slides, and made them into permanent preparations for analysis. 4) Analysis o# feculae, to disclose identifiable contents. 1 collected feculae defecated by newly taken animals, and prepared therefrom per- nlanent microscope slides for analysis. As with the crop materials, above, 1 then analyzed the content using standard procedures. 5) Habitat study, essential because orthopteroid feeding tends to be as much a function of food availability as it is of feeder preference. Thus, I determined the composition and relative availability of the flora at Los Cristianos and Las Cañadas (see above). Involved therewith was the collection of voucher plant specimens, and this activity was useful in another way. It yielded determined plants, parts of which I later placed in a microblendor assembly, ground into fragments, and used to prepare slides of known niaterials simulating crop contents found naturally. 1pho- tomicrographed these siniulated contents, and compared them with natural crop contents. 6) Diffevential feeding tests, to reveal the insects' food preferences irres- pective of variations in plant availability. I conducted tests on confined Calliptamus plebeius and SPhingonotus willemsei, a dozen of each given access to plants common in their habitat and left to feed for a day, whe- reupon the result was noted. RESULTS 'l'he results of the feeding investigation are summarized in Tables 1 (List of Feeding Records Amassed) and 11 (Synopsis of Overall Feeding Data); the general behavioral data are included below (Discussion); while the plant availability data have already been presented (Study Breas). DISCUSSION Arbiblatta bivittata (Brullé) (Blattoidea: Ectobiinae). This delicate- bodied cockroach, endemic to the Canaries, occurs wild in forests, especially laurel and pine, throughout northern Tenerife. Adults, wingless iii the female sex, are common throughout the year, except in the high Las Cañadas del Teide during the harsh winter months. It was in the latter area where 1 briefly studied the insect. It proved to be inactive during the day, taking refuge under stones and in crevices, plant debris, and pine, needles, and active at nigbt, moving about over ground and vegetation. 1 was unsuccessful in obtaining feeding records, and took comparatively few specimens. The severa1 1 examined in the laboratory had mandibles characterized by the omnivorous-type adaptation and crops with a content of about 97 % plant debris (including fragments identifiable as Spar- tocytisus nubigeaus, Pterocephalus lasiospermus, and Adenocarpíxs viscosus) and 3 % insect sclerites. On that incomplete basis, and in light of 22 Miscelánea Zoológica behavior in related ectobiines, 1 presume for the species an ornnivorous habit. Blattella gerntanica (Linné) (Blattoidea: Pseudomopinae). This do- miciliar~cockroach is cosmopoiitan in world distribution, and in Tenerife occurs al1 year long in the coastal districts, especially near port cities. 1 analyzed the feculae defecated by a newly taken animal. The content was 100 % plant debris. This suggests omnivorous habits, and is consistent with the insect's known feeding in other parts of the world. Periplaneta americana (Wnné) (Blattoidea: Blattinae). This domici- liary cockroach, like B. germanica, above, is cosmopolitan in world distribution. It has a coastal distribution in the north and south of Tenerife, where the fully winged adults may be taken throughout the year in urban areas

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