Comparative studies with Tribolium (Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae) — II: Productivity of T. castaneum (herbst) and T. confusum Duv. on natural, semi-synthetic and synthetic diets

Sokoloff, Alexander; Franklin, Ian R.; Lakhanpal, Raj K.

doi:10.1016/0022-474x(66)90028-2

Cited by 21 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…For T. castaneum , the flour type in which an individual is immersed is a major defining feature of the environment, comparable to a host plant for a phytophagous insect. For laboratory strains of these beetles, including both of the strains of tested here, whole wheat flour with 5% brewer’s yeast (wheat5) appears to be the best medium yet tested ( Sokoloff et al ., 1966a , b; Via, 1991 ). Before the start of this experiment, the two strains tested here had been reared for several hundred generations in wheat5 ( Via, 1991), so other flours can be considered to be novel environments for these strains.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum , infests many types of stored grains ( Sokoloff et al ., 1966a ). In the experiments reported here, cannibalism rates on different grains were tested for two strains of T. castaneum .…”

Section: Background and Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although most previous studies of cannibalism in Tribolium have been restricted to studies of populations in the standard medium (wheat5), Tribolium is a common pest of many types of grains, most of which are lower in nutritional quality than is wheat5 ( Sokoloff et al ., 1966a , b). These grains constitute stressful environments for nonadapted populations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Cannibalism facilitates the use of a novel environment in the flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum

Via

1999

Heredity

104

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Cannibalism is well known to a ect both the population dynamics and the competitive relationships of organisms. Cannibalistic behaviour commonly increases in stressful conditions, such as when density is high or food is scarce, and cannibals often obtain a nutritional bene®t. Might cannibalism also increase in a novel environment to which a population is poorly adapted physiologically? Moreover, might cannibalistic behaviour provide enough of a nutritional advantage in a nutritionally stressful environment to rescue individuals from its adverse e ects and thus permit colonization and range expansion? Previous work has shown that oat¯our is a particularly stressful environment for Tribolium castaneum. In the study reported here, egg cannibalism by two strains of T. castaneum was signi®cantly enhanced in oat¯our, and egg eating rescued larvae from the adverse demographic e ects of this poor environment. Development time of the cannibals was accelerated almost to the level seen for individuals reared in the nutritionally superior environment (wheat plus brewer's yeast). Their survival and fecundity also increased relative to individuals reared in oat¯our without the opportunity to cannibalize. A sib analysis revealed that for larvae reared in the presence of victim eggs, the extent of cannibalism was genetically variable, so that this trait could evolve, given a selective bene®t exceeding its cost. These results suggest that colonization of a marginal new environment could be facilitated by enhanced rates of cannibalism. The possible interplay between cannibalism and physiological adaptation to a new environment is discussed.Keywords: colonization, ecological genetics, evolution, insects, quantitative genetics, resource use. IntroductionCannibalism occurs in a wide range of organisms and is thought to be a common feature of many life cycles (Fox, 1975; Polis, 1981). The ecological e ects of cannibalism are clear. Predation on conspeci®cs can signi®cantly a ect population size and age structure, and it is often implicated as a mechanism of population regulation (Park et al., 1965; Lloyd, 1968; Van Buskirk, 1989; Fincke, 1994; Wagner & Wise, 1996). Cannibalism can alter competitive relationships both by eliminating competitors and by providing the cannibal with nutritional bene®ts (Fox, 1975; Johansson, 1992; Fincke, 1994). The nutritional bene®t of cannibalism need not be large for the behaviour to evolve: even a small decrease in the development time of the cannibal in a species with overlapping generations may provide enough of a selective advantage to cause the spread of cannibalism, even of full-sibs (Eickwort, 1973).Evidence that cannibalism is nutritionally bene®cial has come both from direct observations of improved survival, development time or fecundity of cannibals (Ho & Dawson, 1966; Fox, 1975; Sonleitner & Guthrie, 1991; Spence & Carcamo, 1991; Agarwala & Dixon, 1992; Tschinkel, 1993), and from the observation that cannibalism often increases when alternative food is scarce (Fox, 1975; Polis, 1981; N...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Background and Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Cannibalism facilitates the use of a novel environment in the flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum

Via

1999

Heredity

104

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“…But, in these experiments there must also be an interaction in Mix because c goes extinct prior to c-Mix and at least some b die out prior to b-Mix. However, there are a number of possibilities as to why b populations last longer than c: (1) as the flour is depleted, there may be a build up of toxins to which b is most resistant; (2) b may have a lower metabolic rate than c and utilise food at a lower per capita rate (Taylor & Medici, 1966); (3) b may be less exacting in its dietary requirements than c Sokoloff & Lakhanpal, 1966); (4) due to b's slower developmental time, it may recruit a smaller adult + larval population than c before the flour begins to show signs of depletion to the beetles; (5) b may be better able than c to extract nutrient from conditioned, partially assimilated, and partially transformed flour.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effect of resource limitation on competing populations of flour beetles,triboliumspp. (Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae)

Nathanson

1975

Bull. Entomol. Res.

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Single-species and mixed-species populations of Tribolium castaneum (Hbst.) and T. confusum Duv. were followed in two experiments. Food (flour) was renewed at various intervals between 30 days and 180 days or was not renewed at all. As the interval between food renewals lengthened, single-species populations of T. confusum became extinct later than populations of T. castaneum, the survivor in mixed-species populations changed from T. castaneum to T. confusum, and the mixed-species populations became extinct later than the single-species populations. When resource is limited, therefore, populations of the two species may persist longer if they compete than if they are husbanded as single species.

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“…T. castaneum is highly polyphagous and can be found in many different grain types; however, the extent to which this apparent polyphagy is caused by specialization to the locally predominant grain type or by individually generalized ability to feed on a wide range of grains is currently largely unknown. Previous studies of a single strain of T. castaneum synthesized by Lerner and Ho (1961) have revealed that development time and productivity (number of offspring produced from a founding population of constant size) depends on the flour type (Sokoloff et al, 1966a;Sokoloff et al, 1966b). It is also known that 'geographical' strains from different laboratories vary in performance on the 'standard' medium (whole wheat flour supplemented with 5~o brewer's yeast, henceforth W5) (Soliman & Hardin, 1971).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Variation between strains of the flour beetle Tribolium castaneum in relative performance on five flours

Via

1991

Entomologia Exp Applicata

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When populations are exposed to different environments, evolutionary processes can lead either to genetically differentiated strains or to the appearance of increased generalism at the individual level. For evolution to occur, genetic variability in performance in different environments is required. Here, intra‐specific genetic variation across environments was estimated in the flour beetle Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) by comparing the responses of two strains of T. castaneum to different flour types. Replicated groups from each strain were allowed to develop on either the standard whole wheat medium or on one of four novel flours (wheat, rice, corn and oat). In several of the novel flours, clear differences in mean development time or population size of one or both strains were seen relative to performance in the standard medium. Moreover, the strains differed significantly in their phenotypic responses to the flours. One strain did particularly poorly on oat flour. Reduced oviposition, reduced larval survivorship and increased larval cannibalism were examined as possible causes of the low productivity on oat flour. These three factors accounted for about 70% of the reduction in population size when this strain oviposited and developed in oat flour. The difference between these two outbred strains in response to these five flours suggests that genetic variation in resource use is present within T. castaneum and may also be present within strains and natural populations in grain storage facilities. Such variation would permit an evolutionary response to selection in multiple environments (flours). This process has agricultural implications when several types of grain are stored in a single location because it could eventually lead to the evolution of highly generalized populations of T. castaneum, an important pest of stored products.

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Comparative studies with Tribolium (Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae) — II: Productivity of T. castaneum (herbst) and T. confusum Duv. on natural, semi-synthetic and synthetic diets

Cited by 21 publications

References 10 publications

Cannibalism facilitates the use of a novel environment in the flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum

Cannibalism facilitates the use of a novel environment in the flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum

The effect of resource limitation on competing populations of flour beetles,triboliumspp. (Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae)

Variation between strains of the flour beetle Tribolium castaneum in relative performance on five flours

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