DOCSLIB.ORG

The Biology of Egg Production in the House Cricket, Acheta Domesticus L

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Biology of Egg Production in the House Cricket, Acheta Domesticus L Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1985 The iologB y of Egg Production in the House Cricket, Acheta Domesticus L. Craig William Clifford Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Clifford, Craig William, "The ioB logy of Egg Production in the House Cricket, Acheta Domesticus L." (1985). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 4046. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/4046 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INFORMATION TO USERS This reproduction was made from a copy of a document sent to us for microfilming. While the most advanced technology has been used to photograph and reproduce this document, the quality of the reproduction is heavily dependent upon the quality of the material submitted. The following explanation of techniques is provided to help clarify markings or notations which may appear on this reproduction. 1.The sign or “target” for pages apparently lacking from the document photographed is “Missing Page(s)”. If it was possible to obtain the missing page(s) or section, they are spliced into the film along with adjacent pages. This may have necessitated cutting through an image and duplicating adjacent pages to assure complete continuity. 2. When an image on the film is obliterated with a round black mark, it is an indication of either blurred copy because of movement during exposure, duplicate copy, or copyrighted materials that should not have been filmed. For blurred pages, a good image of the page can be found in the adjacent frame. If copyrighted materials were deleted, a target note will appear listing the pages in the adjacent frame. 3. When a map, drawing or chart, etc., is part of the material being photographed, a definite method of “sectioning” the material has been followed. It is customary to begin filming at the upper left hand corner of a large sheet and to continue from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. If necessary, sectioning is continued again—beginning below the first row and continuing on until complete. 4. For illustrations that cannot be satisfactorily reproduced by xerographic means, photographic prints can be purchased at additional cost and inserted into your xerographic copy. These prints are available upon request from the Dissertations Customer Services Department. 5. Some pages in any document may have indistinct print. In all cases the best available copy has been filmed. University Microfilms International 300 N. Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, Ml 48106 8517729 Clifford, Craig William THE BIOLOGY OF EGG PRODUCTION IN THE HOUSE CRICKET, ACHETA DOMESTICUS L. The Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical Col.Ph.D. 1985 University Microfilms International300 N. Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106 PLEASE NOTE: In all cases this material has been filmed in the best possible way from the available copy. Problems encountered with this document have been identified here with a check mark V . 1. Glossy photographs or pages______ 2. Colored illustrations, paper or print_______ 3. Photographs with dark background _____ 4. Illustrations are poor copy_______ 5. Pages with black marks, not original copy______ 6. Print shows through as there is text on both sides of p a g e_______ 7. Indistinct, broken or small print on several pages 8. Print exceeds margin requirements______ 9. Tightly bound copy with print lost in spine________ 10. Computer printout pages with indistinct print_______ 11. Page(s) ____________ lacking when material received, and not available from school or author. 12. Page(s) ____________ seem to be missing in numbering only as text follows. 13. Two pages num bered . Text follows. 14. Curling and wrinkled pages_______ 15. Dissertation contains pages with print at a slant, filmed as received__________ 16. Other University Microfilms International THE BIOLDGV OF E66 PRODUCTION IN THE HOUSE CRICKET, Acheta donesticus L. A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy i n The Department of Zoology and Physiology by Craig UJ. Clifford B.5., Louisiana State University, 1972 M.S., Louisiana State University, 1974 May 1985 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Many of these experiments required the performance of several tedious tasks. I appreciate the work of Gregory Moncada, Hoa Nguyen, Tom Perkins, Doyle Nolan, Pam duRousseau, Henry Rouquette, and the many others who helped in rearing and experimentation. I wish to thank the members of my graduate committee (Drs. J.P. Woodring, Thomas H. Dietz, Albert H. Meier, Douglas A. Rossman, T.C. Sparks and Donald Thompson) for their input on these projects. Dr. Tom Dietz, a member of my committee, has been most helpful with general advice and support. The person most instrumental in the completion of this project and the many others of my graduate and undergraduate career is Dr. J.P. Woodring, my mentor and friend. I also wish to thank my wife and family for letting me "go to school" for so long. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS................. i i ABSTRACT . i v PART 1. Control of Oogenesis and oviposit ion in the House Cricket, Acheta domesticus L ............1 Abstract....... Introduction...... Me*thod«». ....... ............ ............. 6 Results .................. Discussion.••...•.... ..........................24 References...... /I'? Tables................. *HRiai8aa8tia«iitSBBfi8ti47 Fi gures........... PART 2. The Effects of Enforced Virginity and Ovariectomy on Growth, Reserves, and Metabolism in the House Cricket, Acheta d o m e s t x c u s LMa.................«........u9 Abst rac t ...... .....................................60 I ntroduct i on....................................... 62 Methods..............................................64 Resul ts............ ................................ 67 Di scussi on........ .70 Ref erences........................... 76 Tabl es....... 78 Fi gures.............................. 80 PART 3. Electrophoretic and Chromatographic Characterization of Vitellogenin and Its Variation in the House Cricket, Acheta domesticus L. ............................. 85 Abstract ....... 86 Introduction. ................................. 88 Methods.......................... 90 Results ............................................ 97 Di scussi on.... ............... 101 Ref erences............... Ill Tabl es....... ................................ 115 Figures............................................118 BIBLIOGRAPHY................................................ 127 VITA.......................................................... 135 i i i ABSTRACT Oogenesis commenced on day 3 <day 0 = adult ecdysis) in Acheta domesticus L. , which, based on degeneration of the -flight muscles, was approximately when juvenile hormone was released. Starvation did not prevent the onset o-f oogenesis, although egg production was greatly reduced. Virgin females did not oviposit and the oviducts filled with eggs by day 15. Compaction appeared to be a factor limiting oogenesis. The digestive tract was compressed and feeding reduced, which might be the primary factors terminating oogenesis. The concentration of juvenile hormone esterase <JHE> did not change as virgins filled with eggs, which indicated that JHE was not involved with termination of oogenesis. Prostaglandin topically applied to the genital opening was 3X more effective in initiating oviposition than when injected. Testectomized males stimulated oviposition of unfertilized eggs, indicating that the prostaglandin synthetase was not produced in the testes. The male cemented the spermatophore in the female genital chamber; this seal probably reduced chances for degradation of the enzyme and increased the efficiency of semen transfer. i v The metabolic rate of virgin -Females was greatly reduced because the oxygen consumption by un-fertilized eggs is very low. Although more than 90'/. o-f the eggs were derived directly from food, fat body reserves were used up during egg production. Mated females produced more eggs and lost more fat body than virgins or ovariectomized females. As females lost fat body, their survival time when starved decreased. Ovulated eggs stored in the oviducts could not be resorbed. The vitellogenin was partially purified and isolated by 1ow-ionic-strength precipitation and DEAE-affinity chromatography. The molecular weight was estimated at 400,000 dal tons by calibrated gel filtration, and the pi estimated at 5.7-6.4 by isoelectric focusing. It was a glycolipoprotein containing 9.67. lipid and 6.67. carbohydrate. At least two subunits having molecular weights of 112,000 and 40,000 daltons, respectively, were identified by calibrated SDS-polyacrylamide gels. Using an integrating densitometer on stained SDS-PASE preparations, it was determined that starvation, age, and egg production reduced the vitellogenin titre and that ovariectomy elevated vitellogenin titre. PART 1. Control of Oogenesis and Oviposition in the House Cricket, Acheta domest icus L. KEYWORDS:Acheta domest icus,house cricket, oogenesis, oviposition, egg
Load more

Recommended publications
  • THE QUARTERLY REVIEW of BIOLOGY
    VOL. 43, NO. I March, 1968 THE QUARTERLY REVIEW of BIOLOGY LIFE CYCLE ORIGINS, SPECIATION, AND RELATED PHENOMENA IN CRICKETS BY RICHARD D. ALEXANDER Museum of Zoology and Departmentof Zoology The Universityof Michigan,Ann Arbor ABSTRACT Seven general kinds of life cycles are known among crickets; they differ chieff,y in overwintering (diapause) stage and number of generations per season, or diapauses per generation. Some species with broad north-south ranges vary in these respects, spanning wholly or in part certain of the gaps between cycles and suggesting how some of the differences originated. Species with a particular cycle have predictable responses to photoperiod and temperature regimes that affect behavior, development time, wing length, bod)• size, and other characteristics. Some polymorphic tendencies also correlate with habitat permanence, and some are influenced by population density. Genera and subfamilies with several kinds of life cycles usually have proportionately more species in temperate regions than those with but one or two cycles, although numbers of species in all widely distributed groups diminish toward the higher lati­ tudes. The tendency of various field cricket species to become double-cycled at certain latitudes appears to have resulted in speciation without geographic isolation in at least one case. Intermediate steps in this allochronic speciation process are illustrated by North American and Japanese species; the possibility that this process has also occurred in other kinds of temperate insects is discussed. INTRODUCTION the Gryllidae at least to the Jurassic Period (Zeuner, 1939), and many of the larger sub­ RICKETS are insects of the Family families and genera have spread across two Gryllidae in the Order Orthoptera, or more continents.
    [Show full text]
  • Protein and Lipid Characterization of Acheta Domesticus, Bombyx Mori, and Locusta Migratoria Dry Flours
    Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports 2018 Protein and Lipid Characterization of Acheta domesticus, Bombyx mori, and Locusta migratoria Dry Flours Emily N. Brogan Follow this and additional works at: https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd Part of the Food Chemistry Commons, and the Food Microbiology Commons Recommended Citation Brogan, Emily N., "Protein and Lipid Characterization of Acheta domesticus, Bombyx mori, and Locusta migratoria Dry Flours" (2018). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 7498. https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/7498 This Thesis is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by the The Research Repository @ WVU with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Thesis in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you must obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/ or on the work itself. This Thesis has been accepted for inclusion in WVU Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports collection by an authorized administrator of The Research Repository @ WVU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Protein and Lipid Characterization of Acheta domesticus, Bombyx mori, and Locusta migratoria Dry Flours Emily N. Brogan Thesis submitted to the Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design at West Virginia University in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Nutritional and Food Science Jacek Jaczynski Ph.D., chair Kristen Matak Ph. D Yong-Lak Park, Ph.
    [Show full text]
  • The Neuromuscular Mechanism of Stridulation in Crickets (Orthoptera: Gryllidae)
    J. Exp. Biol. (1966), 45, isi-164 151 With 8 text-figures Printed in Great Britain THE NEUROMUSCULAR MECHANISM OF STRIDULATION IN CRICKETS (ORTHOPTERA: GRYLLIDAE) BY DAVID R. BENTLEY AND WOLFRAM KUTSCH Department of Zoology, University of Michigan, Aim Arbor, and Institute for Comparative Animal Physiology, University of Cologne {Received 21 February 1966) INTRODUCTION Study of the insect neuromuscular system appears very promising as a means of explaining behaviour in terms of cellular operation. The relatively small number of neurons, the ganglionic nature of the nervous system, the simplicity of the neuro- muscular arrangement, and the repetitiveness of behavioural sequences all lend them- selves to a solution of this problem. As a result, an increasing number of investigators have been turning their attention to insects and especially to the large orthopterans. Recently, Ewing & Hoyle (1965) and Huber (1965) reported on muscle activity underlying sound production in crickets. The acoustic behaviour is well understood (Alexander, 1961) and in the genera Gryllus, Acheta and Gryllodes communication is mediated by three basic songs composed of three types of pulses. While working independently on this system at the University of Cologne (W.K.) and the University of Michigan (D.B.) using various Gryllus species, we found a number of basic differences between the muscle activity in our crickets and that reported by Ewing & Hoyle (1965) for Acheta domesticus. These two genera, Gryllus and Acheta, are so nearly identical that they are distinguished solely by differences in the male genitalia (Chopard, 1961). The present paper constitutes a survey of muscle activity patterns producing stridulation in four species of field crickets.
    [Show full text]
  • Pet-Feeder Crickets.Pdf
    TERMS OF USE This pdf is provided by Magnolia Press for private/research use. Commercial sale or deposition in a public library or website is prohibited. Zootaxa 3504: 67–88 (2012) ISSN 1175-5326 (print edition) www.mapress.com/zootaxa/ ZOOTAXA Copyright © 2012 · Magnolia Press Article ISSN 1175-5334 (online edition) urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:12E82B54-D5AC-4E73-B61C-7CB03189DED6 Billions and billions sold: Pet-feeder crickets (Orthoptera: Gryllidae), commercial cricket farms, an epizootic densovirus, and government regulations make for a potential disaster DAVID B. WEISSMAN1, DAVID A. GRAY2, HANH THI PHAM3 & PETER TIJSSEN3 1Department of Entomology, California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, CA 94118. E-mail: [email protected] 2Department of Biology, California State University, Northridge, CA 91330. E-mail: [email protected] 3INRS-Institut Armand-Frappier, Laval QC, Canada H7V 1B7. E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected] Abstract The cricket pet food industry in the United States, where as many as 50 million crickets are shipped a week, is a multi- million dollar business that has been devastated by epizootic Acheta domesticus densovirus (AdDNV) outbreaks. Efforts to find an alternative, virus-resistant field cricket species have led to the widespread USA (and European) distribution of a previously unnamed Gryllus species despite existing USA federal regulations to prevent such movement. We analyze and describe this previously unnamed Gryllus and propose additional measures to minimize its potential risk to native fauna and agriculture. Additionally, and more worrisome, is our incidental finding that the naturally widespread African, European, and Asian “black cricket,” G.
    [Show full text]
  • Jamaican Field Cricket, Gryllus Assimilis (Fabricius) (Insecta: Orthoptera: Gryllidae)1 Thomas J
    EENY069 Jamaican Field Cricket, Gryllus assimilis (Fabricius) (Insecta: Orthoptera: Gryllidae)1 Thomas J. Walker2 Introduction The Jamaican field cricket, Gryllus assimilis (Fabricius), was first described from Jamaica and is widespread in the West Indies. It may have first become established in south Florida as recently as the early 1950s. Its scientific name (Gryllus assimilis, or previously Acheta assimilis) was applied to all New World field crickets until 1957. Overview of Florida field crickets Distribution In the United States, Jamaican field crickets are known only from south peninsular Florida and southernmost Texas. Identification Jamaican field crickets are not as dark as other Florida field crickets. The arms of the Y-shaped ecdysial“ suture” are well defined, and most of the areas around the eyes are light yellow-brown. The pronotum has a dense brown pubes- Figure 1. Distribution of Jamaican field cricket in the United States. cence that makes this field cricket appear “fuzzier” than the other Florida species. All adults have long hind wings. Life Cycle Jamaican field crickets probably occur in all stages at all times of year. Supporting this conjecture is the species’ tropical origin and its rapid, synchronous development in laboratory colonies. Its relatively large size and ease of rearing might make it competitive with the house cricket as a species to be reared and sold for pet food. 1. This document is EENY069, one of a series of the Entomology and Nematology Department, UF/IFAS Extension. Original publication date January 1999. Revised May 2014. Reviewed September 2019. Visit the EDIS website at https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu for the currently supported version of this publication.
    [Show full text]
  • New Species and Records of Some Crickets (Gryllinae: Gryllidae: Orthoptera) from Pakistan
    INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE & BIOLOGY 1560–8530/2000/02–3–175–182 New Species and Records of some Crickets (Gryllinae: Gryllidae: Orthoptera) from Pakistan AZHAR SAEED, MUHAMMAD SAEED† AND MUHAMMAD YOUSUF Department of Agricultural Entomology, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad–38040, Pakistan †Nichimen Corporation, 20/11 U-Block, New Multan Colony, Multan ABSTRACT Adult crickets were collected from various localities of Pakistan and identified upto species level. The species of eight genera, viz., Tarbinskiellus, Phonarellus, Callogryllus, Plebiogryllus, Tartarogryllus, Gryllopsis, Gryllus and Gryllodes belonging to the subfamily Gryllinae are presented. Each genus is represented by a single species in Pakistan. The former five genera and their representative species are new record to the area, while two species, i.e. Callogryllus ovilongus and Plebiogryllus retiregularis are new to science. New taxa are described in detail, while only the differential and ew characters, if any, from the published descriptions, are given in case of already described species. Key Words: Systematics; Crickets; Gryllinae INTRODUCTION Pakistan along-with its distribution and habitat. This comprehensive study yielded a large number of Crickets are commonly met insects. They are specimens of the crickets. The subfamily Gryllinae was important to us due to two reasons: firstly, being pests of represented by 16 genera from the area, however out of various agricultural crops, vegetables, lawns, ornamental these only eight are presented here. plants, harvested grains both ate threshing floors and in godowns, and household articles, and secondly, being MATERIALS AND METHODS predators of small insects. As pests, cricket species such as Gryllus bimaculatus plays havoc by feeding Adult crickets were collected from various voraciously on seed and seedlings of cotton, millets and localities of the four climatic regions of Pakistan as oil-seeds every year necessitating re-sowing of the crop detailed by Ahmad (1951).
    [Show full text]
  • Food Fights in House Crickets, Acheta Domesticus, and the Effects of Body Size and Hunger Level
    Color profile: Disabled Composite Default screen 409 Food fights in house crickets, Acheta domesticus, and the effects of body size and hunger level P. Nosil Abstract: Animals often compete directly with conspecifics for food resources, and fighting success can be positively related to relative resource-holding power (RHP) and relative resource value (i.e., motivation to fight). Despite the ease of manipulating resource value during fights over food (by manipulating hunger levels), most studies have focused on male fighting in relation to gaining access to mates. In this study, pairwise contests over single food items were used to examine the effects of being the first to acquire a resource, relative body mass, relative body size (femur length), and relative level of food deprivation (i.e., hunger) on competitive feeding ability in male and female house crickets, Acheta domesticus. Only when the food pellet was movable did acquiring the resource first improve fighting success. When the pellet was fastened to the test arena, increased relative hunger level and high relative body mass both in- creased the likelihood of a takeover. However, the effects of body mass disappeared when scaled to body size. When the attacker and defender were equally hungry, larger relative body size increased takeover success but, when the at- tacker was either more or less hungry, body size had little effect on the likelihood of a takeover. Thus fight outcomes were dependent on an interaction between RHP and motivational asymmetries and on whether the resource was movable or stationary. Contest duration was not related to the magnitude of morphological differences between opponents, suggest- ing that assessment of fighting ability may be brief or nonexistent during time-limited animal contests over food items.
    [Show full text]
  • ENTOMOPHAGY: the BENEFITS of INSECTS in NUTRITION Claire Chaudhry Community Entomophagy Is the Term Used for Eating Insects
    FOOD & DRINK ENTOMOPHAGY: THE BENEFITS OF INSECTS IN NUTRITION Claire Chaudhry Community Entomophagy is the term used for eating insects. NHS Dietitian/ Freelance Over 2,000 species of insects are consumed by humans Dietitian, BCUHB worldwide, mainly in tropical regions. The insect’s eggs, (NHS) and Private larvae, pupae, as well as the body have been eaten by humans from prehistoric times to the present day. In Claire’s 15 years of experience, The most popular insects consumed she has worked by humans around the world include in acute and beetles at 31%, caterpillars at 18%, community NHS settings. Claire wasps, bees and ants at 15%, crickets, has taught grasshoppers and locusts combined nutrition topics at universities make up 13%, true bugs make up 11% the regulations, insects do occasionally and colleges and and termites, dragonflies and others end up in our food, e.g. on a leaf of your regularly provides 1 talks to groups, make up the remaining 12%. organic lettuce, or perhaps in a box of NHS and private. Entomophagy has been presented cereal. www.dietitian to the United Kingdom (UK) public claire.com with programmes like Back in Time for WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES OF Dinner (2015) and Doctor in the House EATING INSECTS? For full article (2016). These popular TV series featured A sustainable food source for the references episodes presenting insects as a food planet please email source with mixed opinions. Who can With a growing global concern over the info@ networkhealth forget anxious celebrities watched by increasing population throughout the group.co.uk millions in I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of world and the unsustainable practices Here! participating in bush tucker trials used for modern factory farming of eating insects as part of a punishing animals, the future could be food task! shortages globally.
    [Show full text]
  • Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation Wales Guidance (Pdf)
    Wildlife Sites Guidance Wales A Guide to Develop Local Wildlife Systems in Wales Wildlife Sites Guidance Wales A Guide to Develop Local Wildlife Systems in Wales Foreword The Welsh Assembly Government’s Environment Strategy for Wales, published in May 2006, pays tribute to the intrinsic value of biodiversity – ‘the variety of life on earth’. The Strategy acknowledges the role biodiversity plays, not only in many natural processes, but also in the direct and indirect economic, social, aesthetic, cultural and spiritual benefits that we derive from it. The Strategy also acknowledges that pressures brought about by our own actions and by other factors, such as climate change, have resulted in damage to the biodiversity of Wales and calls for a halt to this loss and for the implementation of measures to bring about a recovery. Local Wildlife Sites provide essential support between and around our internationally and nationally designated nature sites and thus aid our efforts to build a more resilient network for nature in Wales. The Wildlife Sites Guidance derives from the shared knowledge and experience of people and organisations throughout Wales and beyond and provides a common point of reference for the most effective selection of Local Wildlife Sites. I am grateful to the Wales Biodiversity Partnership for developing the Wildlife Sites Guidance. The contribution and co-operation of organisations and individuals across Wales are vital to achieving our biodiversity targets. I hope that you will find the Wildlife Sites Guidance a useful tool in the battle against biodiversity loss and that you will ensure that it is used to its full potential in order to derive maximum benefit for the vitally important and valuable nature in Wales.
    [Show full text]
  • Draft Assessment Report
    DRAFT ASSESSMENT REPORT 1. Provide information on the taxonomy of the species The following information is required about the taxonomy of the species and its role in its natural environment: a) Family name: Gryllidae b) Genus name: Gryllodes c) Species: sigillatus d) Subspecies: There are no known subspecies for Gryllodes sigillatus. However, for many decades Gryllodes sigillatus was often incorrectly named as Gryllodes supplicans. G. sigillatus and G. supplicans are now known as two distinct species (see attached reference by Otte, 2006) e) Taxonomic Reference: Otte, D & Alexander, RD (1983) The Australian Crickets (Orthoptera: Gryllidae). Monograph 22, Academy of Philadelphia, Allen Press, Kansas. Pages 160 – 162, Illustrations (page 161, Figures 119 and 120). Otte, D (2006) Gryllodes sigillatus (Walker) is a valid species distinct from Gryllodes supplicans (Walker). Transactions of the American Entomological Society, 132: 223-227. f) Common Names: Gryllodes sigillatus is known by various common names worldwide, including: decorated cricket, tropical house cricket, Indian house cricket, banded cricket. g) Is the species a genetically-modified organism (GMO)? This is not a genetically-modified organism. 2. Provide information on the status of the species under CITES The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) is an international treaty involving over 150 countries with the purpose of protecting wildlife from unregulated trade. Australia, as a member country, controls the import and export of species that are threatened or could become threatened due to trade in them or their products. A species may be affected in its natural environment by factors such as habitat destruction and fragmentation, and illegal collection for a variety of purposes e.g.
    [Show full text]
  • The Selection of Shelter Place by the House Cricket
    ACTA NEUROBIOL. EXP. 1976, 36: 561-580 THE SELECTION OF SHELTER PLACE BY THE HOUSE CRICKET Maria KIERUZEL Department of Neurophysiology, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology Warsaw, Poland Abstract. The stimuli acting upon the choice of shelter and resting place by the house cricket, Acheta domesticus (L.) were analysed. The places of preference in different types of terraria as well as the choice of tubes of different diameter and of various light conditions were in- vestigated. Acheta domesticus avoids open and illuminated space in its choice of resting place. It prefers dark places, enclosed by walls, like a clefts or boxes. The influence of the conditions of environment con- figuration at the larval period of the crickets' development upon their subsequent preference as to rest place, has not been stated. Neither was this influence observed on their behavioural reactions as connected with the former. Crickets attain their ethological praeferendum of resting site owing to their innate photo- and thigmo-kinesis which are supple- mented by hygrophilia and thermophilia. The influence of the group effect on the cricket's individual rate of development was confirmed. INTRODUCTION The body of most insects is generally well protected against the loss of water. This protection is of great biological importance in the case of insects living on land. The integument of Orthoptera - despite its rather thick cuticle - has an increased permeability to water owing to the presence of nume- rous bundles of microscopic canals in its exo- and endocuticular layer, as well as to a comparatively insignificant content of lipids in its exo- cuticle (3).
    [Show full text]
  • Recognition of Courtship Song in the Field Cricket, Teleogryllus Oceanicus
    Anim. Behav., 1996, 51, 353–366 Recognition of courtship song in the field cricket, Teleogryllus oceanicus ROHINI BALAKRISHNAN & GERALD S. POLLACK Department of Biology, McGill University (Received 4 November 1994; initial acceptance 9 February 1995; final acceptance 9 June 1995; MS. number: 7146) Abstract. The courtship song of the cricket, Teleogryllus oceanicus plays an important role in inducing the female to mount the male, which is necessary for mating. The song consists of a short, amplitude-modulated chirp, followed by a long trill of constant intensity and high syllable rate. Using playback techniques, it was determined which physical parameters of courtship song are necessary and/or sufficient to evoke normal female mounting of muted, courting males. The higher harmonics of natural courtship song were neither necessary nor sufficient for the effectiveness of the song. The chirp component alone was sufficient to evoke normal levels of mounting, but the trill was only partially effective on its own. The conspicuous amplitude modulation of the chirp was not necessary to evoke normal responses. The results suggest that the high effectiveness of the chirp is due to its characteristic temporal pattern. As in other cricket species, the song repertoire of T. oceanicus also includes distinct calling and aggression songs, which contain chirps that are structurally similar to the courtship chirp. Both calling and aggression songs evoked normal mounting responses when played back in the context of courtship. ? 1996 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour Crickets use acoustic signals to communicate and courtship songs are recognized share common with each other. These signals take the form of or similar features.
    [Show full text]