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Role of vision throughout the flight initiation sequence of the Colorado potato beetle

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 April 2012

Gilles Boiteau
Gilles Boiteau
Affiliation:
Potato Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, P.O. Box 20280, 850 Lincoln Road, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada E3B 4Z7 (e-mail: boiteaug@agr.gc.ca)
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Abstract

The role of vision in the flight initiation sequence of the Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Say) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), was assessed by comparing the behavioral sequences and frequencies of takeoffs of untethered and tethered beetles with and without vision. Results showed that vision plays a critical role in the successful completion of the launch and the maintenance of lift for the adult Colorado potato beetle. The sequence was interrupted immediately before or during the lifting of the mesothoracic legs or before the launch for most blind beetles. Liftoffs of untethered beetles over a 1-h period in a flight chamber were reduced significantly, by 77%, in blind beetles compared with normal beetles. In addition, the preponderance of upward (dispersal) flights following successful liftoffs of normal beetles was replaced by a preponderance of downward (short) flights for blind beetles. Blind beetles that did not have to launch themselves because they were tethered initiated flight as frequently as tethered normal Colorado potato beetles. The duration and repeatability of flights initiated by tethered blind Colorado potato beetles were also similar to those of flights initiated by tethered normal Colorado potato beetles in a stationary environment. Together, the results of the tests with untethered and tethered beetles indicate that vision is a key factor during flight launching and for flight continuation.

Résumé

Le rôle de la vue dans la séquence d'initiation du vol chez le doryphore de la pomme de terre, Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Say) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), a été étudié en comparant les séquences comportementales et les fréquences d'envols de doryphores libres et suspendus, avec ou sans vision. Les résultats ont montré que la vue est un des facteurs clés permettant au doryphore adulte de compléter avec succès son décolage et maintenir sa suspension dans l'air. Chez les doryphores sans vision, la séquence comportementale fut interrompue immédiatement avant ou pendant la levée des pattes mésothoraciques ou avant le décolage. Le nombre de décolages réussis par des doryphores libres pendant une période d'une heure fut réduit, significativement, de 77 % chez les doryphores aveugles par rapport aux individus normaux. De plus, la majorité des vols libres dirigés vers le haut (vols de dispersion) faisant suite au décollage de doryphores normaux fut remplacée par une majorité de vols dirigés vers le bas suite au décollage de doryphores aveugles. Par contre, les doryphores aveugles suspendus initièrent le vol aussi fréquemment que les doryphores normaux suspendus. La durée et la répétition des vols initiés par les doryphores aveugles suspendus étaient similaires à celles des doryphores normaux suspendus. L'ensemble des résultats obtenus avec les doryphores libres et suspendus indique que la présence de la vue est un facteur clé, à la fois pendant l'envol et pendant la poursuite du vol.

Type
Articles
Information
The Canadian Entomologist , Volume 137 , Issue 4 , August 2005 , pp. 420 - 427
Copyright
Copyright © Entomological Society of Canada 2005

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