Feeding, Energy Processing Rates and Egg Production in Painted Lady Butterflies

1991 ◽  
Vol 156 (1) ◽  
pp. 249-265
Author(s):  
F. REED HAINSWORTH ◽  
ELIZABETH PRECUP ◽  
TRACY HAMILL
Keyword(s):  
Egg Production ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Food Concentration ◽  
Energy Gain ◽  
Ingestion Rates ◽  
Vanessa Cardui ◽  
Meal Timing ◽  
Sucrose Solutions ◽  
Nectar Concentration ◽  
Energy Processing

Volume and energy ingestion rates, meal sizes (intakes to satiation) and meal frequencies were measured for previously unfed adult painted lady butterflies (Vanessa cardui L.) fed sucrose solutions or nectar from Lantana camera flowers in the laboratory. Volume and energy rates of crop emptying, assimilation efficiencies and mature egg production over 1 week were measured for V. cardui fed on sucrose solutions to assess mechanisms for and consequences of maximizing net meal energy. Viscosity reduced volume ingestion rates as sugar concentration increased, and 35–52.5 % (w/v) sucrose produced a maximum rate of energy gain from sucrose solutions. Ingestion rates were lower from Lantana flowers. Increasing Lantana nectar concentration from 33 to 70 % sucrose would produce about the same rate of energy gain for a meal. Virtually all ingested sugars were assimilated. Energy processing rates of 30 μl meals did not vary with sex, varied little with concentration and were 12–30 times the rate of energy use for maintenance. For females this may be due to the linear dependence of mature egg production on the amount of sugar ingested. Average meal timing compensated for variations in food concentration. Meals may be initiated before complete crop emptying, and this would increase the overall rates of energy processing, particularly for small meals. If Vanessa are not time-constrained while foraging, selecting concentrated nectars would decrease foraging frequency and increase the number of mature eggs produced after a meal.

The Effect of Temperature and Food Concentration On Ingestion Rates of Quinqueloculina Seminula On the Diatom Nitzschia Closterium

2019 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanli Lei ◽  
Chengchun Li ◽  
Tiegang Li ◽  
Zhimin Jian
Keyword(s):  
Food Availability ◽  
Ingestion Rate ◽  
Food Concentration ◽  
Laboratory Culture ◽  
Effect Of Temperature ◽  
Clearance Rates ◽  
Organic Detritus ◽  
Local Conditions ◽  
Ingestion Rates ◽  
Nitzschia Closterium

Abstract The majority of sediment-dwelling foraminifera are thought to be deposit feeders. They use their reticulopodia to gather sediment with associated algae, organic detritus, and bacteria. Uptake of diatoms by foraminifera have been observed but rarely quantified. We measured the clearance (gathering) rate and ingestion rate of diatoms by the common benthic foraminifer Quinqueloculina seminula using Nitzschia closterium as prey under laboratory culture conditions. Grazing experiments were performed to evaluate the effects of temperature (at 12, 15, 18, 21, and 24°C) and food availability (10 to 800 cells mm−2) on uptake rates of diatoms. The clearance rates, estimated from the disappearance of food items, were variable (0.59–4.4 mm2 foram−1 h−1) and did not show a clear relationship with food availability. The maximum clearance rates increased from 1.80 ± 0.21 to 2.69 ± 0.32 mm2 foram−1 h−1 when temperature increased from 12 to 18°C and decreased to 2.28 ± 0.25 mm2 foram−1 h−1 at 24°C. Ingestion rates varied from 1.0 to 43 × 103 diatoms foram−1 h−1, following a hyperbolic response to food concentrations at all experimental temperatures. The maximum individual ingestion rates increased from 842 ± 180 to 1648 ± 480 (mean ± SE) cells foram−1 h−1 and then decreased to 316 ± 54 cells foram−1 h−1 as temperature increased from 12 to 24°C. Experimental results revealed that 12–18°C was the optimal temperature range for Q. seminula feeding for specimens adapted to local conditions. Our study indicates that Q. seminula plays an ecological role by feeding upon benthic diatoms in marine benthic ecosystems.

scholarly journals A review of the life cycles and life-history adaptations of pelagic tunicates to environmental conditions

2011 ◽  
Vol 69 (3) ◽  
pp. 358-369 ◽  
Author(s):  
Don Deibel ◽  
Ben Lowen
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Environmental Conditions ◽  
Generation Time ◽  
Egg Production ◽  
Food Concentration ◽  
Life Cycles ◽  
Population Doubling ◽  
Event Scale ◽  
Generation Times ◽  
Doubling Times

Abstract Deibel, D., and Lowen, B. 2012. A review of the life cycles and life-history adaptations of pelagic tunicates to environmental conditions. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 69: 358–369. Phylogeny, life cycles, and life-history adaptations of pelagic tunicates to temperature and food concentration are reviewed. Using literature data on lifetime egg production and generation time of appendicularians, salps, and doliolids, rmax, the maximum rate of lifetime reproductive fitness, is calculated as a common metric of adaptation to environmental conditions. The rmax values are high for all three groups, ranging from ∼0.1 to 1.9 d−1, so population doubling times range from ∼8 h to 1 week. These high values of rmax are attributable primarily to short generation times, ranging from 2 to 50 d. Clearly, pelagic tunicates are adapted to event-scale (i.e. days to weeks) rather than seasonal-scale changes in environmental conditions. Although they are not closely related phylogenetically, all three groups have a unique life-history adaptation promoting high lifetime fitness. Appendicularians have late oocyte selection, salps are viviparous, and doliolids possess a polymorphic asexual phase. There has been little research on hermaphroditic appendicularians, on large oceanic salps, and on doliolids generally. Research is needed on factors regulating generation time, on the heritability of life-history traits, and on age- and size-specific rates of mortality.

Secondary sexual characters, energy use, senescence, and the cost of reproduction in sockeye salmon

1999 ◽  
Vol 77 (11) ◽  
pp. 1663-1675 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew P Hendry ◽  
Ole K Berg
Keyword(s):  
Egg Production ◽  
Sockeye Salmon ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Relative Size ◽  
Cost Of Reproduction ◽  
Bristol Bay ◽  
Secondary Sexual Characters ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Secondary Sexual

Reproductive development and energy stores were characterized for sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) maturing in the wild (Pick Creek, Bristol Bay, Alaska). Between freshwater entry and the start of spawning, ovaries increased in mass by 87.1% and secondary sexual characters increased in linear dimension by 13.0-47.4%. Between the start of spawning and death, secondary sexual characters decreased in relative size by 3.3-12.7%. Mass-specific somatic energy declined from freshwater entry (6.7% fat, 20.6% protein, 6.6 kJ·g-1) to the start of spawning (1.6% fat, 18.0% protein, 4.5 kJ·g-1) and finally to death (0.1% fat, 14.4% protein, 2.9 kJ·g-1). Stored fat appeared to be used primarily for upriver migration and egg production, whereas stored protein appeared to be used primarily for the development of secondary sexual characters and metabolism during spawning. Most development of secondary sexual characters occurred late in maturation, perhaps to forestall deterioration of muscle tissue. Relative to populations with long freshwater migrations, Bristol Bay sockeye salmon stored less fat before entering fresh water and used less fat before death. The total energy cost of reproduction (freshwater entry until death, including gonad investment) was 74.1% for females and 66.1% for males, higher than levels typically reported for iteroparous salmonids.

Factors Influencing Dispersion of Larval Black Flies (Diptera:Simuliidae): Effects of Current Velocity and Food Concentration

1989 ◽  
Vol 46 (8) ◽  
pp. 1329-1341 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan J. H. Ciborowski ◽  
Douglas A. Craig
Keyword(s):  
Nearest Neighbor ◽  
Food Concentration ◽  
Locomotory Activity ◽  
Black Flies ◽  
Flow Conditions ◽  
Larval Size ◽  
Ingestion Rates ◽  
Simulium Vittatum ◽  
Food Concentrations ◽  
Food Conditions

Positioning and feeding of Simulium vittatum larvae were studied on a ceramic tile in a flume at three current velocities and two food concentrations. Locomotory activity and drift decreased with increasing current but were independent of food. Using nearest neighbor analysis, we detected significant aggregation at 15 cm∙s−1 that resulted from accumulation of individuals at upstream boundaries. Larvae also aggregated at 43 cm∙s−1, but independently of tile margins. Dispersion was random at 24 cm∙s−1. Gross pattern formation results from individual responses to prevailing flow conditions independently of food concentration. Relative ingestion rates decreased with increasing food concentration, larval size, velocity, and incidence of parasitism. Individual larvae avoided locations directly upstream or downstream of a nearest neighbor at 15 and 24 cm∙s−1 when food concentration was low (0.5 mg∙L−1), but not at higher food levels (3.5 mg∙L−1). These trends were reversed at high velocity. Larvae immediately downstream of neighbors had reduced ingestion rates. Larvae selected positions lateral to others under low food conditions. These animals had greater ingestion rates than did individuals in other locations. Results are consistent with hypotheses of flow disruption and/or food preemption by upstream larvae and of mutually induced beneficial flow between laterally adjacent individuals. Positioning within aggregations reflects complex behavior among conspecifics that varies with the interaction of flow and food concentration.

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