Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2brh9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T05:59:05.676Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

EFFECTS OF FARNESYL METHYL ETHER ON THE REPRODUCTION OF THE WESTERN TENT CATERPILLAR, MALACOSOMA PLUVIALE: SOME PHYSIOLOGICAL, ECOLOGICAL, AND PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 May 2012

W. G. Wellington  and
D. A. Maelzer
W. G. Wellington
Affiliation:
Forest Research Laboratory, Department of Forestry and Rural Development, Victoria, British Columbia
D. A. Maelzer
Affiliation:
Waite Agricultural Research Institute, the University of Adelaide, Glen Osmond. South Australia
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Female pupae of Malacosoma pluviale (Dyar) treated externally with 80 μl of farnesyl methyl ether during their second day retained most of their original lipid content on the seventh day, when the eggs were maturing. Control pupae lost nearly half their original score in the same interval. In contrast to controls, pupae treated with 40–80 μl (4th–6th days) developed fewer, lighter eggs, and their adults lived longer, were more active, and less inhibited in egg-laying. But the egg masses from treated individuals contained scattered, tumbled eggs and were oversupplied with spumaline.

When eggs were incubated in April, those from individuals treated with ≥ 40 µl failed to hatch. Eggs from females that had received < 40 μl hatched, bur the resulting colonies died before their second instar in their normal habitat, whereas control colonies survived. Hatching of treated stock could be induced by premature incubation in January, but the numbers and quality of the emerging larvae were greatly reduced in comparison with controls.

The results provide further evidence that behavioral types in M. pluviale are mainly nutritional products. Because of the treatment, developing eggs were deprived of nutrients during the pupal stage and developing adult tissues were oversupplied. Farnesyl methyl ether may have exerted its effect by acting like an excess of juvenile hormone during that part of the pupal stage in which the normal level of activity of the true juvenile hormone is thought to be very low.

Field evidence suggests that an equivalent humoral imbalance sometimes may occur naturally, and thus affect a generation's reproductive capacity, especially near a peak in abundance. Hormonal mimics therefore might be used to manipulate pest populations, but this suggestion includes a cautionary note.

Type
Articles
Information
The Canadian Entomologist , Volume 99 , Issue 3 , March 1967 , pp. 249 - 263
Copyright
Copyright © Entomological Society of Canada 1967

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Atkins, M. D. 1966 a. Behavioural variation among scolytids in relation to their habitat. Can. Ent. 98: 285–288.Google Scholar
Atkins, M. D. 1966 b. Laboratory studies on the behaviour of the Douglas-fir beetle, Dendroctonus pseudotsugae Hopkins. Can. Ent. 98: 953–991.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Campbell, I. M. 1962. Reproductive capacity in the genus Choristoneura Led. (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae). I. Quantitative inheritance and genes as controllers of rates. Can. J. Genet. Cytol. 4: 272–288.Google Scholar
Campbell, I. M. 1966. Genetic variation related to survival in lepidopteran species, pp. 129–135. In Gerhold, H. (editor), Breeding pest-resistant trees. Pergamon Press, New York and London.Google Scholar
Chen, D. H., Robbins, W. E., and Monroe, R. E.. 1962. The gonadotropic action of cecropia extracts in allatectomized American cockroaches. Experientia 18: 577.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
De Wilde, J. 1964. Reproduction — endocrine control, pp. 59–60. In Rockstein, M. (editor), The physiology of Insecta, Vol. I. Academic Press, New York and London.Google Scholar
Heron, R. J. 1966. The reproductive capacity of the larch sawfly and some factors of concern in its measurement. Can. Ent. 98: 561–578.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Highnam, K. C., Lusis, O., and Hill, L.. 1963 a. The role of the corpora allata during oocyte growth in the desert locust, Schistocerca gregaria Forskål. J. Insect Physiol. 9: 587–596.Google Scholar
Highnam, K. C., Lusis, O., and Hill, L.. 1963 b. Factors affecting oocyte resorption in the desert locust Schistocerca gregaria Forskål. J. Insect Physiol. 9: 827–838.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kennedy, J. S. 1961. Continuous polymorphism in locusts, pp. 80–90. In Kennedy, J. S. (editor), Insect polymorphism. Symposium No. 1. Royal Entomological Society of London.Google Scholar
Krishnakumaran, A., and Schneiderman, H. A.. 1964. Developmental capacities of the cells of an adult moth. J. exp. Zool. 157: 293–306.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Krishnakumaran, A., and Schneiderman, H. A.. 1965. Prothoracotrophic activity of compounds that mimic juvenile hormone. J. Insect Physiol. 11: 1517–1532.Google Scholar
Loughton, B. G., and West, A. S.. 1965. The development and distribution of haemolymph proteins in Lepidoptera. J. Insect Physiol. 11: 919–932.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nijholt, W. W. 1965. Moisture and fat content in the ambrosia beetle Trypodendron lineatum (Oliv.). Proc. entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia 62: 16–18.Google Scholar
Schneiderman, H. A. et al. , 1965. Juvenile hormone activity of structurally unrelated compounds. J. Insect Physiol. 11: 1641–1649.Google Scholar
Sláma, K. 1965. The effect of hormone mimetic substances on the ovarian development and oxygen consumption in allatectomized adult females of Pyrrhocoris apterus L. (Hemiptera). J. Insect Physiol. 11: 1121–1129.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sláma, K., and Williams, C. M.. 1966. “Paper factor” as an inhibitor of the embryonic development of the European bug, Pyrrhocoris apterus. Nature 210: 329–330.Google Scholar
Telfer, W. H. 1954. Immunological studies of insect metamorphosis. II. The role of a sex-limited blood protein in egg formation by the cecropia silkworm. J. gen. Physiol. 37: 539–558.Google Scholar
Telfer, W. H. 1965. The mechanism and control of yolk formation. Ann. Rev. Ent. 10: 161–184.Google Scholar
Wellington, W. G. 1957. Individual differences as a factor in population dynamics: the development of a problem. Can. J. Zool. 35: 293–323.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wellington, W. G. 1959. Individual differences in larvae and egg masses of the western tent caterpillar. Can. Dep. Agric. For. Biol. Div. Bi-m. Prog. Rep. 15: 3–4.Google Scholar
Wellington, W. G. 1960. Qualitative changes in natural populations during changes in abundance. Can. J. Zool. 38: 289–314.Google Scholar
Wellington, W. G. 1964. Qualitative changes in populations in unstable environments. Can. Ent. 96: 436–451.Google Scholar
Wellington, W. G. 1965 a. Some maternal influences on progeny quality in the western tent caterpillar, Malacosoma pluviale (Dyar) Can. Ent. 97: 1–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wellington, W. G. 1965 b. The use of cloud patterns to outline areas with different climates during population studies. Can. Ent. 97: 617–631.Google Scholar
Wellington, W. G., Sullivan, C. R., and Green, G. W.. 1966. Biometeorological research in Canadian forest entomology. A review. Int. J. Biomet. 10: 3–15.Google Scholar
Wigglesworth, V. B. 1961. Some observations on the juvenile hormone effect of farnesol in Rhodnius prolixus Stål. J. Insect Physiol. 7: 73–78.Google Scholar
Wigglesworth, V. B. 1963. The juvenile hormone effect of farnesol and some related compounds: quantitative experiments. J. Insect Physiol. 9: 105–119.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wigglesworth, V. B. 1964. The hormonal regulation of growth and reproduction in insects, pp. 247–336. In Beament, J. W. L., Treherne, J. E., and Wigglesworth, V. B. (editors), Advances in insect physiology, Vol. 2. Academic Press, London and New York.Google Scholar
Wigglesworth, V. B. 1965. The juvenile hormone. Nature 208: 522–524.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williams, C. M. 1956. The juvenile hormone of insects. Nature 178: 212–213.CrossRefGoogle Scholar