The presence of conspecific decoys enhances the attractiveness of an NaCl resource to the yellow-spined locust, Ceracris kiangsu
Department of Entomology, Key Laboratory of Monitoring and Management of Plant Diseases and Pests, Ministry of Agriculture, Nanjing Agricultural University; Nanjing, China, 210095
Abstract
Adults of the yellow-spined bamboo locust, Ceracris kiangsu Tsai (Orthoptera: Oedipodidae), aggregate and gnaw at human urine-contaminated materials, a phenomenon termed puddling. Several urine-borne chemicals, including NaCl, are known to stimulate adult C. kiangsu to consume filter paper. Because in nature C. kiangsu adults may use cues to locate puddling resources, we tested the influence of conspecific decoys (dried C. kiangsu) on foraging and consumption of 3% NaCl–treated filter paper. In a two–choice test experiment in the laboratory, female adults showed no preference for filter papers (not treated with NaCL) with or without decoys. In contrast, C. kiangsu females consumed significantly more NaCl–treated filter paper on which conspecific decoys were attached than those without decoys in both the laboratory and in a bamboo forest. When the bait was changed to 3% NaCl plus the insecticide bisultap, significantly more C. kiangsu were killed in the bamboo forest when decoys were present, however the results were not significant when the experiment was done in the laboratory. Hence, moving towards conspecifics seems to facilitate NaCl resource foraging in C. kiangsu, suggesting that the presence of conspecifics promotes feeding on puddling resources.
Keywords: decoy, NaCl bait, feeding, aggregations
Correspondence:
a 2006202025@njau.edu.cn,
b wangzhitian77@163.com,
c kaixiao@163.com,
d linshao@163.com,
e* liguoqing001234@yahoo.com.cn, *Corresponding author, †These authors contributed equally to the research.
Editor: Todd Shelly was editor of this paper
Received: 27 February 2010 | Accepted: 20 May 2010 | Published: 10 April 2011
Copyright: This is an open access paper. We use the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license that permits unrestricted use, provided that the paper is properly attributed.
ISSN: 1536-2442 | Volume 11, Number 45
Yu H-P, Wang Z-T, Xiao K, Shao L, Li G-Q. 2011. The presence of conspecific decoys enhances the attractiveness of an NaCl resource to the yellow-spined locust, Ceracris kiangsu. Journal of Insect Science 11:45 available online: insectscience.org/11.45
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