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The Influence of Soil Moisture and Soil Type on the Oviposition Behaviour of the Migratory Grasshopper, Melanoplus sanguinipes (Fabricius)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 May 2012

Roy L. Edwards  and
Henry T. Epp
Roy L. Edwards
Affiliation:
Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario
Henry T. Epp
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon
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Abstract

Three different soils – sand, loam and clay – at each of three moisture levels – saturated, intermediate, and dry – were offered to female Melanoplus sanguinipes as oviposition sites. When given a free choice the females preferred moist sand to all other oviposition sites and avoided soil that was completely dry. When no moist soil was available, coarse dry soil was preferred to fine dry soil, but the oviposition rate was reduced. The females would probe and dig at random into any of the soil offered but would withhold their eggs temporarily if the subsurface soil was not moist. Soil water pH appeared to have very little influence on the females' acceptance of an oviposition site as egg pods were deposited in soils with a range of pH from 3.0 to 11.6. It is suggested that although the absence of moisture in the soil may affect the distribution of egg-pods in the microhabitat and may reduce the rate of egg-pod production slightly, the temperature prevailing during the oviposition period is perhaps a more important factor in determining the number of egg-pods deposited.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Canadian Entomologist , Volume 97 , Issue 4 , April 1965 , pp. 401 - 409
Copyright
Copyright © Entomological Society of Canada 1965

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