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The effect of isolation on flight and on the pre‐oviposition period in unmated Dysdercus superstitiosus
Author(s) -
GATEHOUSE A. G.,
HALL M. J. R.
Publication year - 1976
Publication title -
physiological entomology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.693
H-Index - 57
eISSN - 1365-3032
pISSN - 0307-6962
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-3032.1976.tb00880.x
Subject(s) - biology , mating , isolation (microbiology) , period (music) , zoology , microbiology and biotechnology , physics , acoustics
Unmated Dysdercus superstitiosus (F.) were maintained (a) isolated, (b) in single‐sex pairs or (c) in groups of twenty. Their flight performance (tethered) and pre‐oviposition period were then studied in the laboratory. Females kept in pairs or in groups of twenty did not fly beyond day 5 after emergence, the pattern of flight in these non‐isolated virgins differing little from that reported for mated females. In isolated females, however, flight persisted until day 7. Isolation did not affect the numbers of males flying, but fewer long flights (> 30 min) occurred. Oviposition began a day later in the isolated females than in the crowded or paired ones (day 7–8 v , day 6–7). It is suggested that these effects of isolation on flight and oviposition are the result of the reported depression of feeding following isolation, and serve in the field to improve aggregation and mating.