Cannibalism studies on eggs and newly hatched caterpillars in a wild population of Ascia monuste (Godart) (Lepidoptera, Pieridae)

Revista Brasileira de Entomologia

Rosana C. Zago-braga¹  Fernando S. Zucoloto¹ 

[1] ,Universidade de São Paulo Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Riberão Claro Departamento de BiologiaRibeirão Preto SP ,Brazil

关键词: Ascia monuste;    Brassica oleracea;    cannibalism;    kale caterpillar;    population control;    Ascia monuste;    Brassica oleracea;    canibalismo;    controle populacional;    lagarta-da-couve;   

DOI  :  10.1590/S0085-56262004000300019

来源: SciELO

【 摘 要 】

Ascia monuste (Godart), also known as cabbage caterpillar, is considered herbivorous and specialist in Brassicaceae; however, it performs cannibalism. Experiments carried out in this work aimed to quantify the cannibalism occurrence in A. monuste, to verify whether cannibalism interferes in the species performance and to check whether cannibalism is influenced by the population size. The parameters used in order to evaluate the performance were time of development, adults weight and size, fecundity, oviposition and survival rate. Cannibalism occurred in all larval instars. There was a tendency to increase the cannibalism practice as the number of co-specific increased (potential preys). Cannibalism was more intense in larvae at the end of larval development. Generally, cannibalism did not interfere in the population performance. The most probable hypothesis for the occurrence of cannibalism in the conditions here studied would be the hypothesis of cannibalism as having the function of population control.

【 授权许可】

CC BY-NC-ND   
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