Food Limitation of Reproduction and Survival For Populations of Brachinus (Coleoptera: Carabidae)
Food Limitation of Reproduction and Survival For Populations of Brachinus (Coleoptera: Carabidae)
复制标题
腕足动物种群繁殖和生存的食物限制(鞘翅目:步甲科)
DOI:
10.2307/1939826
复制
发表时间:
1986
期刊:
影响因子:
4.8
通讯作者:
S. Juliano
中科院分区:
文献类型:
--
作者:
S. Juliano
In order to determine whether natural levels of food for adult bombardier beetles (Brachinus) were low enough to lead to reduced reproduction and survival, laboratory and field experiments were conducted in southeastern Arizona, USA. In the laboratory, feeding affected repro- duction over a period of months, but had no detectable effect on short-term egg production. Females did not reproduce until the 2nd yr of adulthood, and increased feeding did not lead to facultative early reproduction. Survival was reduced by moderately low food (tenerals) or very low food (nontenerals). A condition factor (CF) based on the relationship of body mass to elytron length provided a measure of feeding rate that responded to changes in food availability in as little as 16 d. CF differed among field sites, with a permanent pond yielding the best fed Brachinus and semipermanent and temporary ponds yielding the most severely underfed individuals. Experimental supplementation of food in the field significantly raised the CF of teneral and nonteneral B. lateralis relative to controls. Trends for nonteneral B. mexicanus were consistent with increased feeding rate, but were not significant. Food for adults appears to be important for reproduction, and is in short supply at many sites. Competition for food is possible, and may help explain spatial differences in assemblage composition.