Locomotor activity pattern in pairs of the subsocial desert isopod<i>Hemilepistus reaumurii</i>

Ayari, Anas; Jelassi, Raja; Ghemari, Chedlia; Nasri–Ammar, Karima

doi:10.1080/09291016.2016.1268337

Cited by 15 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…This nycthemeral rhythm of P. albinus is regulated by the rhythmic and natural variations of the duration of the scotophase. The circadian rhythm in P. albinus is probably generated by an internal clock that is synchronized to light-dark cycles and other cues in an organism's environment; this intrinsic timer was apparent in Tylos europaeus [78] and H. reaumurii [79,80]. Nocturnal activity of P. albinus was correlated to a lower evaporation rate.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Behavioral and Reproductive Strategies of Porcellio Species (Oniscidea) in Tunisian Pre-Desert Ecosystems

Medini-Bouaziz¹

2018

Community and Global Ecology of Deserts

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Oniscids inhabiting xeric habitats are of particular interest because these habitats may be one of the important agents for desert soil fertility. Although numerous studies have examined the relationship between the environment and population ecology in woodlice that live in mesic habitats, very little is known about these desert species. Tunisia is known for its arid regions south of the Tunisian Dorsal, habitats in which several species of terrestrial isopods are well adapted. Porcellio is the most widely represented within these habitats: their species richness reaches eight in arid bioclimatic stage. The most widespread of the Porcellio is P. buddelundi, and the least widespread is P. albicornis. Behavioral and reproductive studies carried out in Zarat and Matmata on the two species P. albinus and P. buddelundi showed that the xeric Porcellio species are mainly active at night and they shelter from the extreme heat and dryness of their habitats either in burrows they dig or by vertical migration. The reproductive pattern is seasonal with two breeding seasons. Life history traits allow P. buddelundi to be an r-strategist and P. albinus a k-strategist. The latter displays a fairly developed social behavior, which allowed him to be the most evolved of Porcellio.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Behavioral and Reproductive Strategies of Porcellio Species (Oniscidea) in Tunisian Pre-Desert Ecosystems

Medini-Bouaziz¹

2018

Community and Global Ecology of Deserts

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“…Cloudsley-Thompson (1991) indicated that the decision to be active or not results from various cues available to the organisms after they are aroused by their circadian clock. Unlike other various desert arthropods (Cloudsley-Thompson, 1991;Alpato et al, 1994), the locomotor behaviour of H. reaumurii under controlled environmental conditions received little attention (Nasri-Ammar and Morgan, 2005;Ayari et al, 2017). Nasri-Ammar and Morgan (2005) and Ayari et al (2017) studied the locomotor rhythm of pairs of H. reaumurii in the laboratory, and showed that this species exhibited a diurnal locomotor activity with two activity peaks, which occurred respectively around sunrise and sunset.…”

Section: Monthly and Hourly Variations Of The Surface Activitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Unlike other various desert arthropods (Cloudsley-Thompson, 1991;Alpato et al, 1994), the locomotor behaviour of H. reaumurii under controlled environmental conditions received little attention (Nasri-Ammar and Morgan, 2005;Ayari et al, 2017). Nasri-Ammar and Morgan (2005) and Ayari et al (2017) studied the locomotor rhythm of pairs of H. reaumurii in the laboratory, and showed that this species exhibited a diurnal locomotor activity with two activity peaks, which occurred respectively around sunrise and sunset. They also demonstrated that the locomotor rhythm of H. reaumurii was controlled by an endogenous circadian clock with period approximately closing to 24 h. Similar to other desert species such as the tenebrionid beetles Trigonoscelis gigas (Alpato et al, 1994;Alpatov et al, 1999;Zotov and Alpatov, 2004) and other insect species (Lewis et al, 1991), the circadian clock of H. reaumurii probably involved two oscillators.…”

Section: Monthly and Hourly Variations Of The Surface Activitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Overall, arthropods are able to avoid the very high temperature and therefore escape the heat by staying in burrows and may have nocturnal activity (Bohli et al, 2006;Bohli-Abderrazak et al, 2012;Jelassi et al, 2013;Ayari et al, 2015Ayari et al, , 2017. In fact, temperature appears to be an important determinant of temporal activity patterns for arthropods.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In fact, temperature appears to be an important determinant of temporal activity patterns for arthropods. Unlike terrestrial isopods, the burrowing isopod Hemilepistus reaumurii (Crustacea), which is commonly distributed in the arid regions of North Africa, Middle East and Central Asia, exhibits a daily activity pattern (Nasri-Ammar and Morgan, 2005;Nasri-Ammar et al, 2016;Ayari et al, 2017). To avoid extreme heat and dryness, H. reaumurii individuals must spend most of the time with their brood in a self-dug burrow.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Hourly and monthly variations in the surface activity patterns of Hemilepistus reaumurii in arid environments of Tunisia

et al. 2018

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Life in desert ecosystems drives animals to adapt their surface locomotor activity according to environmental conditions. In this study, the hourly and monthly variations in the surface activity patterns of the terrestrial crustacean Hemilepistus reaumurii were investigated. The surface activity of H. reaumurii at the population scale was observed by collecting the hourly active individuals from the sunrise to the sunset of the studied day in each month of 2013 in the Bchachma locality, Tunisia. The collected active individuals were put in perspex boxes (on which we labeled the hourly time interval in which the individuals were collected) in the field and then transported to the laboratory for analysis. Individuals were counted, sexed, and measured in the laboratory. Despite desert conditions in the studied site, H. reaumurii was characterized by a diurnal surface activity, showing a bimodal pattern during the warm months (i.e., May to October). However, it exhibited a unimodal surface activity pattern in the cold months (i.e., February, March, and November). The surface activity was significantly correlated with sunrise and sunset. Moreover, a significant quadratic effect of temperature on the surface activity of H. reaumurii was observed. Furthermore, the study showed that the most important surface activity was recorded in March. The daily exploitation of the temporal niches was significantly different as a function of months. The body size of males was larger than that of females, and the body size of active individuals changed with months. All these behavioural changes in the surface activity represent an adaptive strategy of life in the arid environment.

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Physiological and behavioral responses of Orchestia gammarellus (Amphipoda, Talitridae) towards trace elements contamination soil

Jelassi

Khemaissia

Ayari

et al. 2021

Microscopy Res & Technique

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Effects of trace elements on the hepatopancreas ultrastructure and on the locomotor activity rhythm were investigated in the amphipod talitrid Orchestia gammarellus collected from Bizerte lagoon banks situated in the north of Tunisia. Animals were exposed to a series of contaminated soil with different concentrations of cadmium and zinc. The locomotor activity rhythm was studied under constant darkness. Histopathological analysis showed that the trace elements, especially the Cd, induced significant changes in the morphology and in the ultrastructural organization of hepatopancreatic cells. The significant alterations obtained were dose dependent. Concerning the behavioral response, results revealed the presence of two components whatever the experimental conditions. In addition, a great inter‐individual variability of the locomotor rhythm was observed. Patterns were in majority bimodal for the control individuals and became unimodal and multimodal when exposed under Cd and Zn, respectively. Furthermore, ultradian and circadian periods were determined. The circadian period lengthened after Zn exposure. In addition, the locomotor activity rhythm was more stable for control individuals. However, those exposed to Cd were less active.

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Locomotor activity pattern in pairs of the subsocial desert isopodHemilepistus reaumurii

Cited by 15 publications

References 22 publications

Behavioral and Reproductive Strategies of Porcellio Species (Oniscidea) in Tunisian Pre-Desert Ecosystems

Behavioral and Reproductive Strategies of Porcellio Species (Oniscidea) in Tunisian Pre-Desert Ecosystems

Hourly and monthly variations in the surface activity patterns of Hemilepistus reaumurii in arid environments of Tunisia

Physiological and behavioral responses of Orchestia gammarellus (Amphipoda, Talitridae) towards trace elements contamination soil

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