Locustana Research Articles

Condensed tannin inEragrostis chloromelasleaves deters feeding by a generalist grasshopper

Abstract We investigated the feeding responses of a generalist grasshopper, the brown locust (Locusta pardalina), to leaves of the grass Eragrostis chloromelas differing in polyphenol content. For three specimens of E. chloromelas, the presence of condensed tannin in epidermal cells was confirmed by histochemical staining, while two specimens lacked polyphenols. Locusts selected the leaves of tannin‐free plants for feeding significantly more frequently than leaves from plants containing tannins. Findings suggest that the food choice of some locusts was affected by the presence of tannins, although variability in feeding responses among individuals was apparent. However, we cannot exclude the possibility that other differences existed between the specimens.

Potential of microorganisms for locust and grasshopper control

Entomopathogens have been isolated and developed for the control of various lepldopteran, coleopteran, dip ter an, hymenopteran, homopteran, and even acarine pests. Among the orthopteran pests, the acridid defoliators are important in Africa, and the periodic outbreaks of the desert locust, Schistocerca gregaria; red locust, Nomadacris septemfasciata; migratory locust, Locusta migratoria migratorioides and brown locust, Locustana pardalina; as well as numerous grasshoppers, cause extensive crop losses. Laboratory and field tests carried out on control of locusts and grasshoppers using microorganisms have shown that there are key candidates which could be used for the management of these acridid pests.

First record for Nosema locustae in the brown locust Locustana pardalina in South Africa, and the yield of spores in laboratory bioassays

The microsporidium Nosema locustae was found in hoppers and adults of the brown locust, Locustana pardalina, for the first time in South Africa collected from a swarm during an outbreak in 1989. Of the individuals collected, 9.3% were infected; the fat body was the site of infection most often found in both hoppers and adults. A heparin-enhanced ELISA was used to determine infection. Bioassays on third and fourth instar hoppers and newly emerged adults with concentrations of 10 3, 10 4, 10 5, and 10 6 spores/ml resulted in mortalities ranging from 55 to 81% in hoppers, but didn't exceed 31% in adults. Spore yields from cadavers inoculated as hoppers reached 1.9 × 10 9 spores/mg body weight, but the yield in cadavers exposed as adults was not as high.

Cereal Crop Losses Caused by Locusts in Eastern, Central and Southern Africa Region

This paper describes briefly four different locust species that constitute potential widespread danger to agriculture and pasture in the eastern, central and southern Africa region. Particular reference is made to the red locust, Nomadacris septemfasciata Serville which mostly feeds on monocotyledonous plants. Reference is also made to the African migratory locust, Locusta migratoria migratorioides RF the brown locust, Locustana pardalina Walker; and the desert locust, Schistocerca gregaria Forskal. There were frequent reports of damage to cereal crops by the red locust during the most recent plague of the 1930’s. However, since that time only a few yield loss data are available owing, primarily, to the fact that locust infestations have mostly been irregular and confined within their natural breeding areas, away from crop land. The paper provides general background information that should enable evaluation of locust incidence in the region and assessment of consequent cereal crop production losses.

Study of the Development of the Compound Eye of Locustana pardalina (Walker)

Study of the Development of the Compound Eye of Locustana pardalina (Walker)

Respiration of the Eggs and Parts of Eggs of Aulocara elliotti (Thomas)

Previous articleNext article No AccessRespiration of the Eggs and Parts of Eggs of Aulocara elliotti (Thomas)George RoemhildGeorge Roemhild Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Volume 38, Number 3Jul., 1965 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/physzool.38.3.30152833 Views: 2Total views on this site Citations: 11Citations are reported from Crossref Journal History This article was published in Physiological Zoology (1928-1998), which is continued by Physiological and Biochemical Zoology (1999-present). Copyright 1965 University of ChicagoPDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:INNOCENT N. KAMBULE, SHIRLEY A. HANRAHAN, FRANCES D. DUNCAN Metabolic rate in diapause and nondiapause brown locust eggs correlated with embryonic development, Physiological Entomology 36, no.44 (Jul 2011): 299–308.https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3032.2011.00792.xSteven C. Hand, Michael A. Menze, Apu Borcar, Yuvraj Patil, Joseph A. Covi, Julie A. Reynolds, Mehmet Toner Metabolic restructuring during energy-limited states: Insights from Artemia franciscana embryos and other animals, Journal of Insect Physiology 57, no.55 (May 2011): 584–594.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jinsphys.2011.02.010Julie A. Reynolds, Steven C. Hand Decoupling development and energy flow during embryonic diapause in the cricket, Allonemobius socius, Journal of Experimental Biology 212, no.1313 (Jul 2009): 2065–2074.https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.027359MICHAEL GUPPY, PHILIP WITHERS Metabolic depression in animals: physiological perspectives and biochemical generalizations, Biological Reviews 74, no.11 (Jan 2007): 1–40.https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-185X.1999.tb00180.xG. Romano, A. Ianora, A. Miralto Respiratory physiology in summer diapause embryos of the neustonic copepodAnomalocera patersoni, Marine Biology 127, no.22 (Dec 1996): 229–234.https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00942107G. Romano, A. Ianora, L. Santella, A. Miralto Respiratory metabolism during embryonic subitaneous and diapause development in Pontella mediterranea (Crustacea, Copepoda), Journal of Comparative Physiology B 166, no.33 (Jul 1996): 157–163.https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00263978Sigfrid Ingrisch Oxygen consumption by developing and diapausing eggs of Eupholidoptera smyrnensis (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae), Journal of Insect Physiology 33, no.1111 (Jan 1987): 861–865.https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-1910(87)90034-5Hans J�rgen Braune Effects of temperature on the rates of oxygen consumption during morphogenesis and diapause in the egg stage of Letopterna dolobrata (Heteroptera, Miridae), Oecologia 25, no.11 (Jan 1976): 77–87.https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00345035Matthias Schaefer An analysis of diapause and resistance in the egg stage of Floronia bucculenta (Araneida: Linyphiidae), Oecologia 25, no.22 (Jan 1976): 155–174.https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00368851Ivar P.S. Agrell, Anders M. Lundquist PHYSIOLOGICAL AND BIOCHEMICAL CHANGES DURING INSECT DEVELOPMENT, (Jan 1973): 159–247.https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-591601-1.50011-9 George Roemhild Compartmentation in the Eggs of Aulocara elliotti (Thomas), Physiological Zoology 40, no.22 (Sep 2015): 182–188.https://doi.org/10.1086/physzool.40.2.30152453

Chiasma Frequency and Gregarization in Locusts

PHASE transformation of locusts1,2 is the reversible group of morphological, biochemical, physiological and behavioural changes in locust hoppers or instars and adults, based to a large extent on population density. The transformation to the swarming or gregaria phase occurs in the field when individuals of the grasshopper or solitaria phase congregate in large numbers due to rapid growth of population. The brown locust, Locustana pardalina Walk., is at present in a cycle of intensive gregarization after a period of about seven years of mainly solitaria life. Gregarization started during the summer of 1962–63 in many areas of the approximately 100,000 square miles of the outbreak region in the Karoo plateau, and continued in the formation of swarms over most of the region during early summer of 1963–64. Many of these swarms have consequently passed through at least three generations of gregarization in the field. Through the courtesy of the Locust Control Division our Locust Research Unit has received field collections throughout the past four years so that representative samples of solitaria, congregating populations and swarms with a history of 1, 2 or 3 generations of gregarization have been available.

The nuclear phenotype of locusts

Locusts generally alternate between a grasshopper or solitaria phase and a swarming, migrating gregaria phase. The chromosome complements of three locusts have been compared for size relationships and frequency of chiasmata in various strains. The species are the Desert locust Schistocerca gregaria, the African migratory locust Locusta migratoria migratoriodes, and the Brown locust Locustana pardalina. The first two were represented by strains from the invasion territory and outbreak region respectively, as well as by strains from South Africa and Tanganyika. The Brown locust is found only in an outbreak region in South Africa. 1. The chromosome complements of the three species are very alike in being composed of three long, five medium and three short chromosomes, plus one X in the male. The individual sizes of the long and medium chromosomes are alike in the species when represented as percentages of the longest chromosome. 2. In these species chiasma frequency is not in simple relationship to chromosome length. 3. In the 3S chromosomes of all three species and their strains the chiasma frequency is almost invariably one per bivalent. 4. The Desert locust, living in invasion territories, in both northern and southern strains, is characterized by high chiasma frequencies in the 3L and 5M chromosomes. 5. The African migratory locust, in the northern strain, has relatively low chiasma frequencies but in strains in what are assumed to be invasion territories, the chiasma frequencies in both the 3L and 5M chromosomes are relatively higher. A dominance relationship is indicated between low and high frequencies. 6. The Brown locust, which is at present undergoing an outbreak cycle, shows significant increases in chiasma frequency in populations which have gregarized in the outbreak region. These increases are more or less proportional to the history of the population, i.e. to the amount of gregarization which is indicated by the number of generations of congregation and swarming. The higher chiasma frequencies are transmitted to laboratory offspring in which the frequencies have risen to what are surmised to be maxima. 7. A working hypothesis is discussed on the possible relationships between increased genetic recombination and swarming in locusts.

The Specialized Heat-Sensitive Areas of the Moroccan Locust, Dociostaurus Maroccanus (Thunberg), and of Several Closely-Related Species

At the conclusion of a study of the specialized heat-sensitive areas on the surface of the body of more than 120 species of grasshoppers and locusts (Slifer, 1953b) it was stated that: “Those species of locusts and grasshoppers which occur in such large numbers as to be grave agricultural pests are all well provided with heat-sensitive areas.” The investigation had included such important plague species as Locusta migratoria migratorioides (Reiche and Fairmaire), Locustana pardalina (Walker), Nomadacris septemfasciata Serville, Schistocerca gregaria (Forskal), Camnula pellucida (Scudder), Melanoplus bivittatus (Say), Melanoplus differ entialis differentialis (Thomas), Melanoplus differentialis nigricans Cockerell, Melanoplus femur-rubrum femur-rubrum (DeGeer) and Melanoplus keeleri luridus (Dodge). Several other species which are of major economic importance had to be omitted because preserved material in Reiche suitable condition for study could not be obtained at the time. Dociostaurus maroccanus (Thunberg), the Moroccan locust, was one of these. Later, through the kindness of Mr. J. P. Dempster of the Department of Agriculture in Nicosia, Cyprus and Dr. S. Okay of the Department of Zoology at the University of Ankara in Ankara, Turkey, well-preserved specimens of the Moroccan locust were obtained and the results of an examination of this material are recorded here. In addition, a study has been made of four species which are closely related to the Moroccan locust. These were furnished by Dr. B. P. Uvarov of the Anti-Locust Research Centre in London.

Labelling Locusts with Radioactive Isotopes

FOLLOWING successful attempts at marking Lepidopterous larvae with radioactive sulphur with the object of investigating population dynamics, larval death-rate, and dispersal1, an opportunity presented itself of applying similar principles to locusts (Locusta migratoria L. and Locustana pardalina Walk.). Accordingly, a series of laboratory experiments was carried out on (a) locust hoppers and (b) locust adults. In each case, phosphorus-32 was given and feeding permitted for twenty-four or forty -eight hours, and this was followed by their return to normal food; thereafter, each having been anaesthetized by carbon dioxide, the individual counts per minute were recorded with a Geiger counter, as also were those for their excreta and exuviae.

Activity of the Incretory Centres of Locustana pardalina during Embryogenesis: Function of the Prothoracic Glands

EVINCED in insects is the existence of a tripartite endocrine system, and a composite hormonal mechanism. A brain factor liberated by the neurosecretory cells of the pars intercerebralis induces the prothoracic glands (ventral glands, pericardial glands, lateral cells or peritracheal glands of Weismann) to secrete their contributive hormone1. There is also abundant proof that the ‘juvenile hormone’ of the corpora allata promotes differentiation and growth in the larval direction2. However, there was much that still remained obscure about the particular function of the hormone secreted by the prothoracic glands.

Pore Canals in the Egg Membranes of Locustana pardalina Walk

IT has been shown by Slifer1 that in the egg of Melanoplus differentialis water is taken up through a small, circular, specialized area (the hydropyle) in the yellow cuticle. This structure, consisting of two layers, is situated at the posterior tip of the egg and is a secretary product of a group of enlarged serosal cells (hydropyle cells). According to her description, these two layers are continuous with the so-called yellow and white cuticles which cover the remainder of the egg. The outer layer of the hydropyle is several times thicker than the corresponding layer of the unspecialized yellow cuticle and is also distinctly striated. These striations (pore canals) run at right angles to the surface. Slifer also described the inner layer of the hydropyle as being continuous with the white cuticle and of the same structure.

Wing Abnormality in Locustana pardalina

I ENCLOSE photographs (Fig. 1) of two locusts with the following history: The eggs were hatched and the young reared inside, in glass, so that the only sunlight that could reach them was screened through two layers of glass; other conditions were identical with such as produced perfectly normal flyers. They remind one strongly of similarly localized (and similarly produced?) abnormalities in Drosophila, and we may legitimately assume that the abnormality will be hereditary.

RECENT STUDIES IN MASS PHYSIOLOGY1

SummaryThe present review of the literature of mass physiology is limited to the years just previous to 1933, and for approximate completeness must be read in connection with an earlier and more extensive survey (Allee, 1931). Analysis of the reactions leading to the formation of aggregations in nature or in the laboratory has scarcely proceeded beyond the recognition hat much of such behaviour is innate. There is, however, recent evidence that a part of the schooling behaviour of the fish Ameiurus is acquired rather than inherited.Once formed, aggregations of aquatic organisms condition the medium surrounding them by the addition of secretions and excretions, the nature and the biological effects of which form one of the important problems of mass physiology.It is easy to demonstrate that overcrowding lessens the rate of growth of organisms. More recently evidence has been accumulating that undercrowding frequently has the same effect. Evidence is presented on this point in such widely different animals as mealworms, fishes and mice. Similarly, with population growth the harmful effects of undercrowding have recently been found for protozoans, crustaceans and beetles, as well as the ill effects of overcrowding.The results from aggregation upon rate of oxygen consumption varies with different animals, and even with the same animals at different times of the year. With goldfishes, those in small groups use less oxygen per individual if grouped than when isolated; with the more closely schooling Ameiurus opposite results are reported. Outside the breeding season, the brittle starfish Ophioderma consumes less oxygen per individual if grouped; this relationship does not necessarily hold during the breeding season.Groups of animals are able to afford protection to their members if exposed to toxic conditions produced either by the absence of accustomed salts, as the marine flatworm Procerodes does when placed in fresh water, or by the presence of toxic substances such as colloidal silver. The amount of protection furnished has been measured for certain cases, and the protective mechanisms are discussed.The polarity of the seaweed Fucus can be determined by the position of a given egg with reference to a group of other eggs of the same or of a different species. Such plasticity might be expected from plants more readily than from animals. With animals, Uvarov's phase theory of locusts has been experimentally demonstrated to hold for the South African Locustana pardalina. The transition from parthenogenetic to sexual reproduction in certain cladocerans has again been demonstrated to result from crowding, and considerable progress has been made in the analysis of the relative importance of the presence of metabolic products and of nutrition in the control of sex in these animals.The effects of numbers present upon the rate of learning differs with different animals and even in the same animals with different problems. Thus fishes learn to run a simple maze more rapidly if in groups than if isolated, but they learn less readily to jump for a bit of worm held just above the water level. Cockroaches also learn to run a simple maze more slowly if more than one is present in the maze at the same time.Groups of birds show a fairly definite flock organisation, which may or may not be related to active leadership of the flock.The whole range of mass physiology has been presented with the thought that it forms a large part of the background for social life.

The Phases of the Rocky Mountain Locust Melanoplus Mexicanus (Saussure)

Dr. Faure has shown experimentally (1932) that the brown locust, Locustana pardalina, of South Africa exists under two phases, the solitary phase and the swarm phase. Each of the individuals of the solitary phase, which live in isolation like most common grasshoppers, is a representative form of the phase solitari-r. Each of the individuals of the swarm phase, which come together in great dense swarms and then migrate over the country, is a representative of the phase gregari-r. The nymphs of the phase gregaria differ markedly from the nymphs of the phase solitaria in coloration, while the adults of gregaria differ in several morphological characters from the adults of the phase solitaria. Dr. Faure, by means of an ingenious series of experiments, has been able to transform the progeny of the solitaria phase into the phase gregaria. There is, therefore, now no doubt of the fact that the transformation of this grasshopper from one phase into the other phase occurs in nature when the conditions are present to bring it about. It has been suggested recently by several authors that our Rocky Mountain locust Melan-oPlus spretus, now apparently extinct, was the long winged migratory (gregaria) phase of our common grasshopper Melan-oplus (atlanis) mexican-us. Dr. Faure conceived the idea of attempting, by his experimental methods used so successfully with the brown locust of South Africa, to transform M. mexican-us which he surmised to be the solitaria phase into M. spretus, the phase gregaria. The following paper embodies the results of Dr. Faure's observations on M. mexican-us in rearing experiments carried out at Saint Paul, Minnesota, during l\'lay, June, and July 1932.