Effects of intraspecific competition and food deprivation on the immature phase of Ascia monuste orseis (Lepidoptera, Pieridae)

Abstract

The effect of intraspecific competition for food on larvae and of food deprivation for 24 h on 2nd and 4th instars of Ascia monuste orseis (Godart, 1819) was investigated. Intraspecific competition for food during the immature phase leads to long pupation time, high larval mortality, reduced adult weight, and reduced number of eggs per female. In food deprivation experiments, the major differences in A. monuste orseis performance were long pupation time in the group that was deprived during the 2nd instar; and a negative effect on reproduction in the group that was deprived during the 4th instar, with reduced adult weight. Both food deprived periods tested are critical, and deprivation during the 2nd instar seems to have an effect as drastic as during the 4th instar because it directly affects larvae survival. Immatures can resist food deprivation for 24 h during the 2nd and 4th instars (low mortality), have a compensatory behaviour (high ingestion and biomass gain) during the 5th instar, and do not demonstrate cannibalistic behaviour during food deprivation.

Does Skipping a Meal Matter to a Butterfly's Appearance? Effects of Larval Food Stress on Wing Morphology and Color in Monarch Butterflies

“…Both treatments prolonged larval development time, and the high stress treatment produced smaller adults ( Fig. 4A , also see File S1 ), which suggests that the food-deprivation regimes we imposed were stressful, and is consistent with multiple prior studies of larval Lepidoptera, including monarchs [16] , [18] , [27] . However, the effects of larval food restriction on other measures of wing morphology we examined were less clear.…”

“…Given the importance of wing dimensions for the migration of monarchs [10] , and the known relationship between wing color and flight in this species [13] , [14] , we specifically focused on understanding how larval food affects wing size and shape, as well as the intensity of orange and black pigment on the wings. Larval food limitation has been shown in a variety of studies to result in reductions in adult size [15] , [16] , [17] , [18] , thus an expected outcome of this experiment was a reduction in adult wing size. We had no a priori expectation for how larval nutrition would impact wing shape, since this idea has rarely been tested before.…”

Effects of prey resource fluctuation on predation attributes of two sympatric Coccinellidae (Coleoptera)

“…(1987) reported higher conversion efficiencies for the nymphs of central European grasshoppers than the adults. However, in comparison to fourth instars, the higher consumption rates of adult females may be ascribed to their high energy requirements for gonadal development and sexual maturity, since quantity of food influences the rates of development, reproductive output, and the fitness (Barros-Bellanda and Zucoloto 2002; Karsai and Hunt 2002; Moreau et al . 2006; Chaudhary et al .…”

Distribution models for Ascia monuste and the host Brassica oleracea var. capitata

“…The larvae of A. monuste feed on leaves throughout their entire development phase, causing substantial damage to crops (Liu, ; Santana, Zago, & Zucoloto, ). The adults can then migrate over long distances in search of oviposition sites (Barros‐Bellanda & Zucoloto, ; Hayward, ; Poffo et al, ) and oviposit on leaves in clusters of varying sizes from one to 144 eggs (Santana, Rodrigues, & Zucoloto, ).…”