Experimental Ecological Studies of Provisioning Behavior in Parental Care to Parastrachia japonesis

雌性亚社会盾蝽Parastrachia japonensis Scott（半翅目：Cydnidae）将食物从觅食地运送到巢中的幼仔，这在独居繁殖者和植食性半翅目昆虫中是罕见的行为。因此，这项行为生态学研究的结果有望对社会生态学领域做出重大贡献。本文所述的野外研究于1996年和1997年在日本佐贺县神崎镇的Hinokuma山县公园进行。我们观察到女性的供应行为在操纵的研究中，使用专门构造的笼子，设置在该领域。此外，由于该虫在日本冲川胜岳地区有发现，我们尝试将佐贺和冲绳这两个环境条件差异很大的地区的行为进行比较，结果表明：1）雌虫在孵化后就开始取食，并根据雌虫的发育阶段调整取食频率;（2）若虫从孵化到离巢独立的时间长短与其提供的核果数呈正相关，（3）若虫对雌蜂提供核果的能力决定若虫的独立时间;（4）雌性个体的寿命与个体大小呈正相关，体重较大的雌性个体离觅食地较远; 5）雌蜂的寿命和核果数随巢距觅食区距离的增加而减少。1996年和1997年在冲绳进行了3次彻底的搜索，但均未找到日本血吸虫的任何亚群。1996年的研究结果发表在《昆虫行为杂志》（Journal of Insect Behavior）的一篇论文中，目前正在出版中; 1997年的研究结果在1997年维也纳国际动物行为学会议上发表，并已提交给一份国际期刊。

Females of the subsocial shield bug, Parastrachia japonensis Scott (Hemiptera : Cydnidae), transport food from the foraging to their young in the nest, a rare behavior among solitary reproducers and phytophagous hemipterans. Thus, the findings of this behavioral ecological study are expected to contribute significantly to the field of social bihavior. The field studics described herein took plate in 1996 and 1997 at Hinokuma Mountain Prefectural Park, in Kanzaki Town, Saga Prefecture, , Japan. We observed female provisioning behavior in manipulated studies using specially constructed cages that were set in the field. In addition, because this insect has been found in Katsudake, Okihawa, we attempted to compara the behavior seen in Saga with that in Okinawa, which has very defferent environmental conditions.The findings were as follows : 1) Females began provisioning after hatching and adjusted the frequency of provisioning to the developmental stage of the nymphs ; 2) The duration between hatch and nymphal independance from the nest was prsitively correlated with the total number of drupes provided ; 3) Nymphs assessed female provisioning effert to decide the time of independence ; 4) Female longevity was positively correlated to body size, and heavier females established their nests further from the foraging ; 5) Female longevity and the total number of drupes provided decreased with increased distance of the nest from the foraging area.Although we did locate several host trees, 3 exhaustive searches in 1996 and 1997 in Okinawa failed to locate any subpopulations of P.japonensis. Thus we unable to compare the behavior at the two regions.The findings of the 1996 study were reported in a paper that is currently in press at the Journal of Insect Behavior ; the results of the 1997 study were presented at the 1997 International Conference of Ethology in Wien, and have been submitted to an international journal.