Hygropreference behaviour and humidity detection in the yellow-spined bamboo locust, Ceracris kiangsu

Abstract

Water is a critical resource for all terrestrial insects. The yellow-spined bamboo locust Ceracris kiangsu Tsai (Oedipodidae: Orthoptera), matures, copulates and reproduces in the summer and adults are observed mud-puddling in human urine-contaminated materials on hot days. Besides obtaining NaCl and NH 4 HCO 3 , the locust may also compensate for water deficiency. In a dual-choice test in the laboratory, adults prefer to remain on wet rather than dry filter paper at high temperature (36 • C). The females are more likely to move towards and stay on wet filter paper than males. The adults chew wet filter paper in the laboratory at higher temperature and the females consume more than the males. Moreover, foam plastic containing an aqueous solution of an insecticide, bisultap, results in greater mortality in females than a dry formulation, both in the laboratory and the field. The water content of the frass from males is significantly lower than that from females and may partially explain the stronger hygropreference behaviour in females. Other possible reasons for sexually different hygropreference are also discussed. The removal of the adult antennae substantially reduces discrimination between wet and dry filter paper and mortality resulting from wet bisultap formulations in the laboratory. Hence, antennae mediate, at least partially, hygropreference behaviour.

Diurnal Flight Behavior of Ichneumonoidea (Insecta: Hymenoptera) Related to Environmental Factors in a Tropical Dry Forest

“…They are capable of interchanging humidity with environment trough the spiracles and during the ßight, some spiracles are continuously open (Gullan and Cranston 2000) increasing water loss (Yu et al 2010). This water loss could be controlled by a reduction in locomotion (Prates et al 2005) or moving to areas according to water vapor content in the air (Martṍnez and Hardie 2009).…”

Conflictual influence of humidity during shelter selection of the American cockroach (Periplaneta americana)

“…This decrease in density is in agreement with the mechanisms of water regulation. High levels of humidity and gregariousness contribute to reducing water loss 11,14,16,17 . In fact, a classical geometric hypothesis is put forth to explain the individual reduction of water loss in an aggregate.…”

“…To do so, most arthropods benefit from different mechanisms to counterbalance water loss 8 . These mechanisms can be physiological, by modifying the water content of their faeces 9 or their respiration rate 10 , They can also be behavioural, such as hygrotaxis to acquire environmental moisture 11 through fog basking 12 or forming an aggregate to reduce individual water loss 13–16 mainly by reducing the individual surface area exposed to the air 17 .…”

Identification and Expression Profile Analysis of Chemosensory Genes From the Antennal Transcriptome of Bamboo Locust (Ceracris kiangsu)

“…As with most insects, olfaction plays a key role in many functional aspects of C. kiangsu , including mate recognition, oviposition site location, foraging, and avoidance of predators and other dangers ( Schiestl, 2010 ; Leal, 2013 ; Wyatt, 2014 ). Previous studies of C. kiangsu , however, have focused mainly on behavior ( Yu et al, 2010 ), ecology ( Zhang and Zuo, 2005 ), and phylogeographics ( Fan et al, 2014 ). Shen et al (2009) first reported the mud-puddling behavior of C. kiangsu : their results showed that salt (NaCl) and nitrogen (NH 4 HCO 3 and NH 4 Cl) in human urine can stimulate the directional movement of C. kiangsu .…”