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FOOD-FINDING BY POLYPHAGOUS ARCTIID CATERPILLARS LACKING ANTENNAL AND MAXILLARY CHEMORECEPTORS

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 May 2012

V.G. Dethier
V.G. Dethier
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA 01003
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Abstract

Patterns of locomotion of arctiid caterpillars, Diacrisia virginica Fabr., deprived of all external chemosensory organs were recorded in a field where there was patchy distribution of two of the most favored food plants, Plantago major L. and Taraxacum officinale Walker, on a background of grass and mixed forbs. Each track traced in the field was retraced on a digitizing tablet from its point of origin in the center of a circle of 30 cm radius to the circumference. The length of the path was a measure of tortuosity. The patterns of paths followed by normal, antennectomized, maxillectomized, and antennectomized + maxillectomized larvae were compared. No differences in meander were found. The ability of larvae of each class to locate, discriminate among, and feed upon food plants was tested in field-plot tests and cafeteria tests. Different degrees of chemosensory deprivation did not affect ability to locate and begin feeding on plants but did impair ability to discriminate among species. Execution of normal patterns of meandering by chemosensorily deprived larvae and successful encounters with food plants support the hypothesis that food-related search behavior by this species of caterpillar is neither initiated nor steered by chemical stimuli provided by food plants.

Résumé

Les déplacements de chenilles de l’arctiidé Diacrisia virginica Fabr. dépourvues de tout organe chimiorécepteur externe ont été suivis dans un champ où les deux plantes préférées de l’insecte, Plantago major L. et Taraxacum officinale Walker, avaient des répartitions contagieuses parmi les herbacées, graminées et autres. Chaque parcours a été reproduit sur un système digital, depuis le point d’origine de la chenille au centre d’un cercle de 30 cm de rayon jusqu’à sa sortie du cercle. La longueur du parcours servait de mesure de sa sinuosité. Les parcours ont été comparés chez des insectes normaux, des insectes sans antennes, des insectes sans maxilles et des insectes sans antennes ni maxilles. La sinuosité s’est avérée la même chez tous les groupes. La capacité des larves de chaque groupe de repérer, de reconnaître et de consommer des plantes a été évaluée au moyen de tests dans des grilles-échantillons et au moyen de tests du type cafétéria. L’importance des handicaps chimiosensibles n’affectait pas la capacité de repérer et de consommer les plantes, mais entravait la capacité de distinguer les différentes espèces. Les parcours normaux des chenilles à sensibilité amoindrie et leur capacité de repérer les plantes à consommer appuient l’hypothèse selon laquelle les comportements de recherche de nourriture chez les chenilles de cette espèce ne sont ni déclenchés ni régis par les stimulus chimiques émis par les plantes.

[Traduit par là rédaction]

Type
Articles
Information
The Canadian Entomologist , Volume 125 , Issue 1 , February 1993 , pp. 85 - 92
Copyright
Copyright © Entomological Society of Canada 1993

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