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Grasshopper populations and weather: the effects of insolation on Chorthippus brunneus
Author(s) -
BEGON MICHAEL
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
ecological entomology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.865
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1365-2311
pISSN - 0307-6946
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2311.1983.tb00516.x
Subject(s) - grasshopper , biology , insolation , ecology , radiant heat , thermoregulation , zoology , climatology , materials science , composite material , geology
.1 In nature, the internal body temperature of Chorthippus brunneus Thunberg is found to be raised substantially under the influence of direct insolation. 2 In the laboratory, similarly raised body temperatures, resulting from the radiant heat of a light bulb, lead to a 5.6‐fold increase in the rate of development, and a similar or even higher increase in the rate of adult maturation. The rate of egg‐production is even more greatly affected, being negligible in the absence of a radiant‐heat source. 3 These physiological results provide an explanation for the frequently found correlation between grasshopper abundance and hot and/or dry weather. 4 The results are also discussed in terms of the problems they pose for the derivation of a physiological time‐scale for basking insects, and the evolutionary forces and constraints that might give rise to them.