On the role of direct sunlight for egg-laying behaviour: lessons and ideas from the speckled wood
On the role of direct sunlight for egg-laying behaviour: lessons and ideas from the speckled wood
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DOI：
10.1111/een.13015
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发表时间：
2021-01-25
影响因子：
2.2
通讯作者：
Van Dyck, Hans
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Braem, Simon;Van Dyck, Hans
1. 蝴蝶在活动时依靠合适的天气条件来调节体温。虽然已知非阳光条件会减少主动飞行的时间，但关于可变的小气候条件如何影响特定行为背景（如栖息地探索、分散、交配、晒日光浴、产卵）的决策制定的详细行为数据往往缺乏。我们研究了阳光直射对斑点木蝴蝶（Pararge aegeria）雌性产卵的影响。为了验证这一点，我们在(1)温室里的笼子里一只一只地观察怀孕的蝴蝶，那里的温度一直很高，(2)在不受控制的天气条件下的室外笼子里。我们的研究结果表明，蝴蝶几乎只在阳光直射下产卵。令人惊讶的是，在温暖的温室笼中，结果也相似，在完全多云的条件下，活动仍然很高，但产卵从未发生。这些结果表明，产卵的蝴蝶需要阳光不仅仅是为了调节体温。我们假设，直射阳光更清楚地暴露了植被草本层潜在产卵地点的小气候变化，从而有利于产卵的雌性。在产卵和产卵前探索期间的日光性可能适用于一系列小气候敏感物种，特别是那些生活在小气候异质性栖息地的物种。这需要新的感官生态学研究，这将进一步提高我们对昆虫功能栖息地的理解。
1. Butterflies rely on suitable weather conditions for thermoregulation during active behaviour. While non-sunny conditions are known to reduce time spent in active flight, detailed behavioural data on how variable microclimatic conditions affect decision making in specific behavioural contexts (e.g. habitat exploration, dispersal, mating, basking, oviposition) is often lacking.2. We addressed the influence of direct sunlight on females of the speckled wood butterfly (Pararge aegeria) that were motivated to oviposit. To test this, we observed gravid butterflies one by one in (1) a cage within a greenhouse, where temperature was kept high all the time, and (2) an outdoor cage under uncontrolled weather conditions.3. Our results show that butterflies almost exclusively oviposit under direct sunlight. Surprisingly, results were similar in the warm within-greenhouse cage, where activity remained high but oviposition never occurred during fully clouded conditions.4. These results suggest that ovipositing butterflies require sunlight not only for thermoregulation. We hypothesise that direct sunlight benefits the ovipositing female by exposing more clearly the microclimatic variation of potential oviposition sites in the herbaceous layer of the vegetation. Heliophily during oviposition and pre-oviposition exploration may apply to a range of microclimate-sensitive species, particularly those living in microclimatically heterogeneous habitats. This warrants novel sensory ecological research, which will further improve our understanding of insect functional habitats.