TY - JOUR

T1 - Egg-hatching synchrony and larval cannibalism in the dock leaf beetle Gastrophysa viridula (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)

AU - Kutcherov, D.

PY - 2015

Y1 - 2015

N2 - Females of leaf beetles and many other herbivorous insects lay eggs in coherent batches. Hatchlings emerge more or less simultaneously and often prey on their late-hatching clutchmates. It is not certain, however, whether this synchrony of hatching is a mere by-product of cannibalism or whether an additional synchronizing factor exists. The following simple experiment was aimed at determining the causal relationship between cannibalism and simultaneous larval emergence. Egg clutches of the dock leaf beetle Gastrophysa viridula were split into two halves. These halves were either kept as coherent groups in two separate dishes or, alternatively, only one half remained whole, whereas the other one was divided into single eggs, each of which was incubated in a separate dish. Halving of a clutch into coherent groups only slightly disrupted the synchrony of emergence. The consequence of individual isolation was more dramatic. Half-clutches consisting of disconnected solitary eggs required almost twice as much time

AB - Females of leaf beetles and many other herbivorous insects lay eggs in coherent batches. Hatchlings emerge more or less simultaneously and often prey on their late-hatching clutchmates. It is not certain, however, whether this synchrony of hatching is a mere by-product of cannibalism or whether an additional synchronizing factor exists. The following simple experiment was aimed at determining the causal relationship between cannibalism and simultaneous larval emergence. Egg clutches of the dock leaf beetle Gastrophysa viridula were split into two halves. These halves were either kept as coherent groups in two separate dishes or, alternatively, only one half remained whole, whereas the other one was divided into single eggs, each of which was incubated in a separate dish. Halving of a clutch into coherent groups only slightly disrupted the synchrony of emergence. The consequence of individual isolation was more dramatic. Half-clutches consisting of disconnected solitary eggs required almost twice as much time

KW - Larval cannibalism

KW - Hatching synchrony

KW - Leaf beetle

U2 - 10.1016/j.zool.2015.06.003

DO - 10.1016/j.zool.2015.06.003

M3 - Article

VL - 118

SP - 433

EP - 438

JO - Zoology

JF - Zoology

SN - 0944-2006

ER -