Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7fkt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T02:19:18.678Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Habitat use and phenology of the large insular endemic grasshopper Acrostira euphorbiae (Orthoptera: Pamphagidae)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 April 2007

H. López ,
M. Nogales ,
E. Morales  and
P. Oromí
H. López*
Affiliation:
Departamento de Biología Animal (Zoología), Universidad de La Laguna, C/Astrofísico Francisco Sánchez, 38206 La Laguna, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain
M. Nogales
Affiliation:
Island Ecology and Evolution Research Group (IPNA-CSIC), C/Astrofísico Francisco Sánchez no. 3, 38206 La Laguna, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain
E. Morales
Affiliation:
Departamento de Biología Animal (Zoología), Universidad de La Laguna, C/Astrofísico Francisco Sánchez, 38206 La Laguna, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain
P. Oromí
Affiliation:
Departamento de Biología Animal (Zoología), Universidad de La Laguna, C/Astrofísico Francisco Sánchez, 38206 La Laguna, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain
*
*Fax: +34 922 318311 E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The habitat use and the phenology of the large grasshopper Acrostira euphorbiae García & Oromí endemic to La Palma (Canary Islands) are studied. This grasshopper is entirely dependent on the Canarian endemic shrub Euphorbia lamarckii both for food and to avoid predation. Adults stay on subapical branches during the day, probably to reduce the risk of predation, and climb up to the apex at night to feed. While females seem to ensure the genetic diversity of offspring by waiting for visits by different males, the latter have to move to guarantee their reproductive success. Monophagy in this species may be related to the year-round presence of tender shoots, and to the predator-repellent toxic latex found in the host plant. Unlike related species from continental areas, adults and nymphs of A. euphorbiae are present almost all year round, probably in adaptation to the particular climate of the islands. Nymphs are more abundant in winter, when Euphorbia leaves are most available. However, adults are more abundant than nymphs in spring, summer and autumn. Males develop more quickly than females, an apparent reproductive strategy based on achieving sexual maturity to coincide with females undergoing imaginal moulting. Matings start immediately after adult females emerge. Densities oscillated between 73 and 193 individuals ha−1, which can be considered a low value compared with other continental pamphagid species.

Keywords

developmental timingEuphorbiahabitat selectioninsect ecologymovements
Type
Research Article
Information
Bulletin of Entomological Research , Volume 97 , Issue 2 , April 2007 , pp. 117 - 127
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2007

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aiouaz, M. & Boufersaoui, A. (1973) Cycle biologique et croissance morphométrique de Pamphagus elephas (L.). Bulletin de la Société d'Histoire Naturelle de l'Afrique du Nord 64, 39–50.Google Scholar
Anderson, N.L. (1964) Some relationships between grasshoppers and vegetation. Annals of the Entomological Society of America 57, 736–742.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anderson, R.V., Tracey, C.R. & Abramsky, Z. (1979) Habitat selection in two species of short-horned grasshopper. Oecologia 38, 359–374.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Andersson, M. (1994) Sexual selection. Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arnedo, M.A., Oromí, P. & Ribera, C. (2001) Radiation of the spider genus Dysdera (Araneae, Dysderidae) in the Canary Islands: cladistic assessment based on multiple data sets. Cladistics 17, 313–353.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Báez, M. (1984) Los panfágidos de las Islas Canarias, con la descripción de una nueva especie: Acrostira tamarani n. sp. (Orthoptera, Pamphagidae). pp. 37–45 in Tomo homenaje al Dr Antonio González González. La Laguna, Secretariado de Publicaciones, Universidad La Laguna.Google Scholar
Begon, M. (1983) Grasshopper populations and weather: the effect of insolation on Chorthippus brunneus. Ecological Entomology 8, 361–370.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blandford, S., Thomas, M.B. & Langewald, J. (1998) Behavioural fever in the Senegalese grasshopper, Oedaleus senegalensis, and its implications for biological control using pathogens. Ecological Entomology 23, 9–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
BOC (2001) Catálogo Regional de Especies Amenazadas. Boletín Oficial de Canarias, 97, 11106–11111.Google Scholar
BOE (1998) Catálogo Nacional de Especies Amenazadas. Boletín Oficial del Estado 172, 24300–24301.Google Scholar
Brunton, C.F.A. & Hurst, G.D.D. (1998) Mitochondrial DNA phylogeny of brimstone butterflies (genus Gonepteryx) from the Canary Islands and Madeira. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 63, 69–79.Google ScholarPubMed
Burtt, E. (1946) Observations on East African Pamphaginae with particular reference to stridulation. Proceedings of the Royal Entomological Society of London, Journal of Meeting 21, 51–54.Google Scholar
Carracedo, J.C. (2001) Volcanismo reciente y riesgo volcánico. pp. 65–76in Fernández Palacios, J.M. & Martín Esquivel, J.L. (Eds) Naturaleza de las Islas Canarias: ecología y conservación. Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Turquesa.Google Scholar
Chopard, L. (1938) La biologie des orthoptères. Encyclopédie Entomologique, París.Google Scholar
Contreras-Díaz, H.G., Moya, O., Oromí, P. & Juan, C. (2003) Phylogeography of the endangered darkling beetle species of Pimelia endemic to Gran Canaria (Canary Islands). Molecular Ecology 12, 2131–2143.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Contreras-Díaz, H.G., López, H., Oromí, P. & Juan, C. (2006) Microsatellite loci development in endangered pamphagid grasshoppers endemic to the Canary Islands (Orthoptera). Conservation Genetics (in press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Delmas, R. & Rambier, A. (1950) Notes orthoptérologiques. Bulletin de la Société Entomologique de France 29, 35–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Emerson, B.C. & Oromí, P. (2005) Diversification of the forest beetle genus Tarphius on the Canary Islands, and the evolutionary origins of island endemics. Evolution 59, 586–598.Google ScholarPubMed
Emerson, B.C., Forgie, S., Goodacre, S. & Oromí, P. (2006) Testing phylogeographic predictions on an active volcanic island: Brachyderes rugatus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) on La Palma (Canary Islands). Molecular Ecology 15, 449–458.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Foucart, A. & Lecoq, M. (1996) Biologie et dynamique de Prionotropis hystrix rhodanica Uvarov, 1923, dans la plaine de la Crau (France) (Orthoptera: Pamphagidae). Bulletin de la Société Entomologique de France 101, 75–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Foucart, A. & Lecoq, M. (1998) Major threats to a protected grasshopper, Prionotropis hystrix rhodanica (Orthoptera, Pamphagidae, Akicerinae), endemic to southern France. Journal of Insect Conservation 2, 187–193.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gangwere, S.K. & Morales Agacino, E. (1964) The feculae (feces) of some Orthoptera (sens. lat.) of Tunisia. Entomological News 75, 209–219.Google Scholar
García, M.D. & Presa, J.J. (1985) Observaciones sobre el comportamiento en cautividad de Eumigus cucullatus (Bolivar, 1878) (Orth. Pamphagidae). Boletín de la Asociación Española de Entomología 9, 175–181.Google Scholar
García, M.D., Clemente, M.E., Llorente, V. & Presa, J.J. (1996) Datos sobre el comportamiento de Eumigus cucullatus (Bolívar, 1878), Eumigus monticola (Rambur, 1838) y Ocnedores falliciosus Bolívar, 1912 (Orthoptera: Pamphagidae): manifestaciones acústicas. Boletín de la Asociación Española de Entomología 20, 161–171.Google Scholar
García, R. & Oromí, P. (1992) Acrostira euphorbiae sp.n. de Pamphagidae (Orthoptera) de La Palma (Islas Canarias). Eos 68, 99–109.Google Scholar
Gillis, R. & Possai, K.W. (1983) Thermal niche partitioning in the grasshoppers Arphia conspersa and Trimerotropis suffusa from a montane habitat in central Colorado. Ecological Entomology 8, 155–161.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gorman, M.L. (1979) Island ecology. London, Chapman and Hall.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heinrich, B. (1981) Insect thermoregulation. New York, John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Heinrich, B. (1993) The hot-blooded insects: mechanisms and evolution of thermoregulation. Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Hochkirch, A. (1998) A comparison of the grasshopper fauna (Orthoptera: Acridoidea and Eumastacoidea) of the Uluguru Mountains and the East Usambara Mountains, Tanzania. Journal of East African Natural History 87, 221–232.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hochkirch, A. (1999) Leaf or stem? – gender-specific differences in the whereabouts of Rhainopomma usambaricum (Ramme, 1929). Mitteilungen der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Allgemeine und Angewandte Entomologie 12, 459–462.Google Scholar
Hochkirch, A. & Papen, M. (2001) Behaviour-related microhabitat utilization in Chorthippus apricarius (Linné, 1758) and Chorthippus biguttulus (Linné, 1758). Mitteilungen der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Allgemeine und Angewandte Entomologie 13, 343–346.Google Scholar
Hundsdoerfer, A.K., Tshibangu, J.N., Wetterauer, B. & Wink, M. (2005) Sequestration of phorbol esters by aposematic larvae of Hyles euphorbiae (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae)? Chemoecology 15, 261–267.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Idowu, A.B. (1997) The defensive mechanism of Zonocerus variegatus (L). Journal of African Zoology 111, 199–203.Google Scholar
Inglis, D.G., Johnson, D.L. & Goettel, M.S. (1996) Effects of temperature and thermoregulation on mycosis by Beauveria bassiana in grasshoppers. Biological Control 7, 131–139.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ingrisch, S. & Köhler, G. (1998) Die Heuschrecken Mitteleuropas. Magdeburg, Westarp Wissenschaften.Google Scholar
Isley, F.B. (1937) Seasonal succession, soil relations, numbers, and regional distribution of Northeastern Texas acridian. Ecological Monographs 7, 319–344.Google Scholar
Joern, A. (1982) Vegetation structure and microhabitat selection in grasshoppers (Orthoptera: Acrididae). Southwestern Naturalist 27, 197–209.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnsen, P. (1972) Alar-notal and tegmino-alar sound production in the African Glauia and Acinipe (Acridoidea: Pamphagidae), with notes on their behaviour. Natura Jutlandica 16, 61–80.Google Scholar
Jolly, G.M. (1982) Mark–recapture models with parameters constant in time. Biometrika 38, 301–321.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Juan, C., Oromí, P. & Hewitt, G.M. (1995) Mitochondrial DNA phylogeny and sequential colonization of Canary Islands by darkling beetles of the genus Pimelia (Tenebrionidae). Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 261, 173–180.Google ScholarPubMed
Juan, C., Ibrahim, K.M., Oromí, P. & Hewitt, G.M. (1998) The phylogeography of the darkling beetle, Hegeter politus, in the eastern Canary Islands. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 265, 135–140.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Juan, C., Emerson, B.C., Oromí, P. & Hewitt, G.M. (2000) Colonization and diversification: towards a phylogeographic synthesis of the Canary Islands. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 15, 104–109.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kent, M. & Coker, P. (1992) Vegetation description and analysis. London, Belhaven Press.Google Scholar
Korsakoff, M.N. (1941) Contribution à l′étude des Pamphaginae de l′Afrique du Nord. Bulletin de la Société d'Histoire Naturelle de l'Afrique du Nord 32, 352–369.Google Scholar
Lactin, D.J. & Johnson, D.L. (1995) Temperature-dependent feeding rates of Melanoplus sanguinipes nymphs (Orthoptera: Acrididae) in laboratory trials. Environmental Entomology 24, 1291–1296.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Llorente, V. (1990) Estudio del comportamiento y desarrollo postembrionario de Acinipe hesperica Rambur, 1838, en cautividad (Orthoptera: Pamphagidae). Boletín de Sanidad Vegetal, Plagas 20, 189–207.Google Scholar
Llorente, V. & Presa, J.J. (1997) Los Pamphagidae de la Península Ibérica (Insecta: Orthoptera: Caelifera). Servicio de Publicaciones, Universidad de Murcia.Google Scholar
Llorente, V., García, M.D. & Presa, J.J. (1995) Datos sobre el comportamiento en cautividad de Eumigus punctatus templadoi Llorente y Presa, 1986 (Orthoptera: Pamphagidae). Zoologica Baetica 6, 23–32.Google Scholar
López, H., Contreras-Díaz, H., Morales, E., Báez, M. & Oromí, P. (2004) Distribución de Acrostira euphorbiae (Orthoptera, Pamphagidae) en La Palma (Islas Canarias). Revista de la Academia Canaria de las Ciencias 15, 43–51.Google Scholar
López, H., Pérez, A.J., Oromí, P., Acevedo, A.J., Rodríguez, B. & Hernández, A. (2005) Un nuevo Pamphagidae de Tenerife (Orthoptera, Califera). Vieraea 33, 419–434.Google Scholar
López, H., Contreras-Díaz, H.G., Oromí, P. & Juan, C. (in press) Delimiting species boundaries for endangered Canary Island grasshoppers based on DNA sequence data. Conservation Genetics.Google Scholar
Malcom, S.B. (1989) Disruption of web structure and predatory behaviour of a spider by plant-derived chemical defenses of an aposematic aphid. Journal of Chemical Ecology 15, 1699–1716.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Malcom, S.B. & Brower, L.P. (1989) Evolutionary and ecological implications of cardenolide sequestration in the monarch butterfly. Experientia 45, 284–295.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marco, J.A., Sanz-Cervera, J.F., Checa, J., Palomares, E. & Fraga, B.M. (1999) Jatrophane and tigliane diterpenes from the latex of Euphorbia obtusifolia. Phytochemistry 52, 479–485.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Massa, B. & Lo Verde, G. (1990) Ciclo biologico delle specie del genere Pamphagus Thunberg, 1815 (Orthoptera, Pamphagidae). Frustula Entomologica n. s. 13, 213–224.Google Scholar
Miksic, S. & Delic, M. (1974–1975) Beitrag zur kenntnis der ökologie von Prionotropis hystrix (Germar) in der Herzegowina (Orthoptera, Pamphagidae). Wissenschaftliche Mitteilungen des Bosnisch-herzegovinischen Landsmuseums. Naturwissenschaft, Sarajevo 4, 153–180.Google Scholar
Moya, O., Contreras-Díaz, H.G., Oromí, P. & Juan, C. (2004) Genetic structure, phylogeography and demography of two ground-beetle species endemic to the Tenerife laurel forest (Canary Islands). Molecular Ecology 13, 3153–3167.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moya, O., Contreras-Díaz, H.G., Oromí, P. & Juan, C. (2006) Using statistical phylogeography to infer population history: case studies on Pimelia darkling beetles from the Canary Islands. Journal of Arid Environments 66, 477–497.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oromí, P. & Báez, M. (2005) Phylum Arthropoda. pp. 149–154in Izquierdo, I., Martín, J.L., Zurita, N. & Arechavaleta, M. (Eds) Lista de especies silvestres de Canarias (hongos, plantas y animales terrestres) 2004. Consejería de Medio Ambiente y Ordenación Territorial. Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Gobierno de Canarias.Google Scholar
Oromí, P., Martín, S. & Galindo, A. (2001) Nuevos datos sobre la familia Pamphagidae en Canarias (Orthoptera, Caelifera). Vieraea 29, 89–95.Google Scholar
Rees, D.J., Emerson, B.C., Oromí, P. & Hewitt, G.M. (2001) The diversification of the genus Nesotes (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) in the Canary Islands: evidence from mtDNA. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 21, 321–326.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Santos, A. (1983) Vegetación y flora de La Palma. Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Editorial Insular Canaria.Google Scholar
Seber, G.A.F. (1982) The estimation of animal abundance and related parameters. 2nd edn. London, Arnold.Google Scholar
Smith, T.R. & Capinera, J.L. (2005) Host preferences and habitat associations of some Florida grasshoppers (Orthoptera: Acrididae). Entomological Society of America 34, 210–224.Google Scholar
Streiff, R., Mondor-Genson, G., Audiot, P. & Rasplus, J.Y. (2002) Microsatellite DNA markers for a grasshopper: Prionotropis hystrix rhodanica (Orthoptera, Pamphagidae). Molecular Ecology Notes 2, 268–270.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Streiff, R., Audiot, P., Foucart, A., Lecoq, M. & Rasplus, J.Y. (2006) Genetic survey of two endangered grasshopper subspecies, Prionotropis hystrix rhodanica and Prionotropis hystrix azami (Orthoptera, Pamphagidae): within- and between-population dynamics at the regional scale. Conservation Genetics 7, 331–344.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Uvarov, B. (1977) Grasshoppers and locusts – a handbook of general acridology. Volume 2. London, Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Vayssière, P. (1921) La lutte contre le croquet marocain (Dociostaurus marocannus Thunb.) en Crau en 1920. Annales des Epiphyties, Mémoires et Rapports 7, 117–167.Google Scholar
Whitman, D.W. (1988) Function and evolution of thermoregulation in the desert grasshopper Taeniopoda eques. Journal of Animal Ecology 57, 369–383.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Whittaker, R.J. (1998) Island biogeography: ecology, evolution and conservation. Oxford, Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Williamson, M. (1983) Island populations. Oxford, Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Willott, S.J. & Hassell, M. (1998) Life-history responses of British grasshoppers (Orthoptera: Acrididae) to temperature change. Functional Ecology 12, 232–241.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhang, D., Li, X., Wang, W., Yin, H., Yin, Z. & Yin, X. (2005) Molecular phylogeny of some genera of Pamphagidae (Acridoidea, Orthoptera) from China based on mitochondrial 16S rDNA sequences. Zootaxa 1103, 41–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar