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BEHAVIORAL STUDIES ON MALACOSOMA DISSTRIA (LEPIDOPTERA: LASIOCAMPIDAE)1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 May 2012

J. A. Greenblatt
Affiliation:
School of Natural Resources, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48109
J. A. Witter
Affiliation:
School of Natural Resources, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48109

Abstract

First-stage forest tent caterpillar larvae were tested for the presence of active and sluggish behavior types such as Wellington found in Malacosoma californicum pluviale (Dyar). Larvae capable of directed movement towards a 30 w light source were classified as active. Larvae were tested on 3 consecutive days, and only a small percentage responded on all 3 days. A much larger percentage remained sluggish throughout the period. Chi-square tests confirmed that the differences in response were not random. There was a tendency for some larvae to respond to light during the test and for others not to respond. The reduced consistency in the response of "active" larvae in M. disstria Hübner compared with that reported for M.c. pluviale may be partly due to real behavioral differences, but it also may be partly due to some procedural differences between our tests and Wellington’s.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Entomological Society of Canada 1976

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