Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-8bhkd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-04T18:23:29.092Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Diurnal variation in feeding and gut activity in nymphs of the African pest grasshopper, Zonocerus variegatus

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 September 2011

W. W. D. Modder
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria
Get access

Abstract

An analysis of the variation of fore-, mid- and hindgut contents in third- to sixth-instar nymphs of the African grasshopper, Zonocerus variegatus, freshly caught every hour in the field, and also left without food for 1, 6 and 12 hr, showed that gut motility and the movement of ingesta through the gut was maximal at 08.00–10.00, 13.00–14.00 and 16.00 hr. Movement of ingesta was very slow at night. A diurnal rhythm therefore governs gut emptying. Nymphs, confined in jars with leaf discs, fed from 07.00 to 19.00 hr over the temperature range 17–34°C. Most food was eaten after 13.00 hr when it is warmer. Field insects feed during the night as well. Midgut α- and β-glucosidase activity was detected at all times of testing (06.00, 12.00, 19.00 and 24.00 hr), but the levels of activity were lowest at 12.00 and 19.00 hr.

Type
Research Articles
Copyright
Copyright © ICIPE 1984

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

REFERENCES

Bernays, E. A. and Chapman, R. F. (1972) Meal size in nymphs of Locusta migratoria. Entomologia exp. appl. 15, 399410.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bernays, E. A. and Chapman, R. F. (1973) The role of food plants in the survival and development of Chortoicetes terminifera (Walker) under drought conditions. Aust. J. Zool. 21, 575592.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chapman, R. F. (1957) Observations on the feeding of adults of the Red Locust (Nomadacris septemfasciata (Serville)). Br. J. Anim. Behav. 5, 6075.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haslewood, G. A. D. and Strookman, T. A. (1939) A method for the estimation of “true” sugar in 0.05 ml of blood. Biochem. J. 33, 920923.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kaufmann, T. (1965) Observations on aggregation, migration, and feeding habits of Zonocerus variegatus in Ghana (Orthoptera: Acrididae). Ann. ent. Soc. Am. 58, 426436.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Modder, W. W. D. (1977) Changes in somatic tissues in the penultimate instar of the African grasshopper, Zonocerus variegatus (L.) (Acridoidea: Pyrgomorphidae). Acrida 6, 1932.Google Scholar
Nowosielski, J. W. and Patton, R. L. (1964) Daily fluctuations in the blood sugar concentration of the house cricket, Gryllus domesticus L. Science, Wash. 144, 180181.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Okere, A. N. (1980) Studies on the biology of Zonocerus variegatus L. (Orthoptera, Acridoidea). Ph.D. Thesis, University of Ibadan, Nigeria.Google Scholar