Influência da agregação larval na história de vida de Ascia monuste orseis (Godart, 1819) (Lepidoptera, Pieridae) / Influence of larval aggregation on life-history traits of Ascia monuste orseis (Godart, 1819) (Lepidoptera, Pieridae)

AUTOR(ES)
FONTE

IBICT - Instituto Brasileiro de Informação em Ciência e Tecnologia

DATA DE PUBLICAÇÃO

25/04/2012

RESUMO

In insects, the gregarious habit has been shown to improve foraging and defense against predation to both larval and adult stages. Egg clusters could also be beneficial through increased larval hatching. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that egg clusters and larval aggregations of the neotropical butterfly Ascia monuste orseis (Godart, 1819) (Pieridae) - a subspecies that uses Brassicaceae as hosts - lead to several benefits from both bi- and tri-trophic perspectives. Larval and adult performances, food assimilation by the larvae, egg viability, as well as protection against natural enemies were assessed from individuals reared either isolated or aggregated. The behavior of larval aggregations was also examined with respect to predation risk, as well as the corresponding larval defensive behaviors after enemy attack. Four treatments with different larval aggregation sizes were assigned (1, 7, 15 e 30 larvae) to assess larval performance and food utilization in the laboratory. In the field, three treatments were assigned (1, 10 e 50 larvae) to evaluate the effects of group size on predation and parasitoidism. Egg performance was examined through egg clusters of different sizes in a greenhouse. Gregarious larvae developed faster, especially in early instars, and became more fecund females than solitary larvae; however, the latter attained larger body size than the former. Under laboratory conditions, survival did not differ among treatments. Lower food ingestion per capita was observed in gregarious larvae, with no cost in food assimilation. The viability of eggs increased as egg aggregation size increased. The lower per capita predation in larger larval aggregations than smaller groups conferred higher protection to A. monuste orseis larvae against natural enemies, through the dilution effects among individuals of the group. Parasitoidism was more intense in small-sized larvae while late instars were more susceptible to predators, regardless of aggregation size. Similar to species with solitary habit, behavioral events which involved head movements as searching and feeding were more dangerous to A. monuste orseis larvae compared to resting and walking. Presumed defensive behaviors were observed in all instars and treatments. Thus, the benefits of aggregation in A. monuste orseis can be seen especially in the egg stage and in first instars, as it reduces egg mortality and larval vulnerability to natural enemies. These benefits probably overcome some costs, such as interference competition in the late instars. Taken together, the results show that egg failure and top-down effects constitute selective pressures in maintaining egg and larval aggregation in A. monuste orseis, by providing better performance from a bi-trophic perspective and increased probability of individual survival from a tri-trophic perspective when compared to solitary individuals.

ASSUNTO(S)

brassicaceae brassicaceae cabbage caterpillar comportamento gregário curuquerê-da-couve gregarious behavior interações tri-tróficas performance performance tri-trophic interactions.

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