Defensive Abdominal Rotation Patterns of Tenebrionid Beetle,<i>Zophobas atratus</i>, Pupae

Ichikawa, Toshio; Nakamura, Tatsuya; Yamawaki, Yoshifumi

doi:10.1673/031.012.13301

Cited by 5 publications

(13 citation statements)

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“…Moreover, weight decreases were also observed after wk 10, which may be attributed to the secretion of special proteins to form the pupal cell as a defense mechanism against unfavorable environmental factors in preparation of pupation (Lee et al, 2002;Shapiro-Ilan and Russell, 2015). Weight loss prior to pupation is commonly observed in many insect species that under the soil (Ichikawa et al, 2012;Johns et al, 2014).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparison of clay and charcoal as feed additives for Protaetia brevitarsis (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae)

Kim¹,

Park²,

Lee³

et al. 2015

International Journal of Industrial Entomology

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The white-spotted chafer, Protaetia brevitarsis (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae), has been traditionally used in Korea as a medicine for preventing liver-related diseases and suppressing liver cancer. Therefore, this insect is economically important and is commercially reared and sold in Korea. Recently, P. brevitarsis was listed as a temporal food ingredient by the Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. Given the increasing economic importance of this beetle, we have sought to improve rearing conditions for its commercial production. In this study, we compared the effects of two food supplements, clay and charcoal, on the growth of second instar larvae of P. brevitarsis. Clay and charcoal are generally known as good adsorbent for removal of contaminating substances in insect feed. We fed second instar P. brevitarsis larvae a commercial diet consisting of fermented sawdust with seven different combinations of clay and/or activated charcoal, and measured their effects on weight gain for approximately 17 wk until larvae pupated. We found that addition of clay at 2.5% w/w of the fermented sawdust diet had no negative effect on weight gain of second instar P. brevitarsis larvae and thus may improve the quality of P. brevitarsis as a commercial food. IntroductionThe white-spotted chafer, Protaetia brevitarsis (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae), is distributed throughout Japan, Taiwan, Korea, China and parts of Europe (Cho, 1969). The adults are observed from late June through July in Korea (Kim et al., 2005;Zhang, 1984). These beetles are holometabolous and undergo three larval instars prior to pupation. Larvae overwinter as third instars in the soil and then pupate. In Korea, P. brevitarsis are raised commercially and used as a traditional medicine for the treatment of liver cancer (Park et al., 1994;Kang et al., 2001;Yoo et al., 2007). They were recently listed as a temporal food ingredient by Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. Therefore, rearing of this beetle has gained increasing attention in Korea, and P. brevitarsis has been mass-reared for commercial purposes since the late 1990s. Thus, it is important to optimize rearing conditions for beetles to improve their commercial quality.Diet and growth conditions have been previously investigated (Kwon, 2009). In this study, we sought to characterize the effect (Table 1). These additives were suspended in an equal weight of tap water and then mixed with the basic feed as described in Table 1.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparison of clay and charcoal as feed additives for Protaetia brevitarsis (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae)

Kim¹,

Park²,

Lee³

et al. 2015

International Journal of Industrial Entomology

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“…Z. atratus pupae exhibit two types of reflex abdominal movements after mechanical stimulation of CS on the cuticle of the appendages and abdomen (Ichikawa et al 2012a, b). The abdominal segments have many CS and HS.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…High-speed movies (200 frames/sec) were made and analyzed according to a method described in a previous paper (Ichikawa et al 2012a). …”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Others have observed mechanosensory mechanisms and trajectory patterns of abdominal movements in the pupae of a largesized tenebrionid beetle, Zophobas atratus Fabricius (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) (Ichikawa et al 2012a, b; Kurauchi et al 2011). Both types of abdominal movements result from stimulation of campaniform sensilla (CS) (strain sensors) in the pupal cuticle, although many sensory hairs (touch sensors) are on the surface of almost all parts of the body (Kurauchi et al 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The rotation of the abdomen occurs in an all-or-none fashion, and all abdominal segments appear to be involved in this response (Ichikawa et al 2012b). In contrast, the closing of the gin-trap is graded, and different numbers of abdominal segments appear to bend the abdomen laterally or move the abdomen circularly (Ichikawa et al 2012a). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

A Third Type of Defensive Behavior in the Tenebrionid BeetleZophobas atratusPupae

Ichikawa

Sakamoto

2013

Journal of Insect Science

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Pupae of the tenebrionid beetle Zophobas atratus Fabricius (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) exhibit two types of reflex abdominal motions in response to tactile stimulation: circular rotation and lateral bending to close pinching devices (gin-traps). In the present study, the pupa exhibited novel, sequential abdominal movements at 0.3–2.2 sec after the onset of mechanical stimulation. The most effective stimulation was gentle, double brushing on the ventral surface of an abdominal segment (sternite). The sequential abdominal movements consisted of the following three types of discrete elementary motions (100–350 ms in duration): rapid vibration of 30–40 Hz, circular rotation (or swing), and small wiggling movements. A sequence of abdominal movements generally started with a few bouts of vibration, but the number and order of subsequent motions varied considerably among different sessions and conditions. A restrained pupa often showed a prolonged sequence of many motions, including several rotations, whereas an unrestrained pupa often shortened the sequence by skipping a few rotations after the displacement of its whole body induced by the first abdominal rotation. Stimulation of two types of mechanosensitive sensilla, the hair sensilla (touch sensors) and campaniform sensilla (strain sensors), seemed to be necessary to initiate the defensive response. In natural environments, crawling of a small predator (or parasitoid) on the surface of the abdomen or repeated attacks of a large predator may induce this defensive response in the pupae.

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Sex and stress modulate pupal defense response in tobacco hornworm

et al. 2022

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In insects, larval and adult defences against predators have been well studied. However, pupal (also known as resting stage) defences have been overlooked and not examined thoroughly. Although some pupa possess anti-predator strategies such as hairs, spines, cryptic coloration, and exudation of chemicals, few studies have tested these responses, and the factors affecting them. Here, we investigated the behavioural responses in tobacco hornworm Manduca sexta that pupates in soil, by introducing an external stimulus using vibrations from an electric toothbrush, to mimic predation. We observed that M. sexta made violent wriggling (twitching), followed by pulsating movements in response to the vibrational stimulus. Detailed examination showed that these twitches and pulsating events occurred more frequently and for longer periods of time in male pupa and were dependent on the magnitude of the stress (high and low frequency). However, when we estimated the angular force exerted by pupa using radian and angular momentum of twitches, it was found to be independent of pupal sex. A follow-up experiment on possible cascading effects of stress exposure on eclosion success revealed that low and high frequency stress exposure didn’t cause any of the common defects in eclosed adults. Our study clearly demonstrates that the so-called defenceless pupal stage uses a wide range of measurable defence behaviours that can actively defend against predators and should be examined further-linking observed behaviour with underlying mechanisms.

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Defensive Abdominal Rotation Patterns of Tenebrionid Beetle,Zophobas atratus, Pupae

Cited by 5 publications

References 13 publications

Comparison of clay and charcoal as feed additives for Protaetia brevitarsis (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae)

Comparison of clay and charcoal as feed additives for Protaetia brevitarsis (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae)

A Third Type of Defensive Behavior in the Tenebrionid BeetleZophobas atratusPupae

Sex and stress modulate pupal defense response in tobacco hornworm

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