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Diel organization of behaviour in milkweed bugs, Oncopeltus spp.
Author(s) -
ALDEN BETH,
DINGLE HUGH,
POSSIDENTE BERNARD
Publication year - 1983
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.1365-3032.1983.tb00354.x
Subject(s) - biology , diel vertical migration , lygaeidae , diapause , heteroptera , ecology , population , zoology , temperate climate , genus , demography , sociology , larva
ABSTRACT. Daily cyclic activities in various behaviours were similar in three species of tropical Oncopeltus (Heteroptera, Lygaeidae). Opposition in females and general movement in both sexes peaked in the middle to late light period. In contrast, feeding and mating peaked at the end of the light period and the beginning of the dark respectively. Other behaviours also tended to display one or the other of these patterns. The diel timing of behaviour observed in this study essentially duplicated the periodicities of a migratory population of Oncopeltus fasciatus from Iowa. The similarity of results across species and populations suggests a general pattern for the genus which probably serves to synchronize behaviours with environmental cycles and appropriate physiology. This similarity is interesting in view of the broad geographical range of the genus across both temperate zone and tropics and in view of the differences among populations with respect to photoperiodic determination of diapause.