Caracterización del comportamiento y las señales vibratorias en Euthyrhynchus floridanus (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) durante el cortejo y la cópula

artículo (arbitrado) -- Universidad de Costa Rica. Escuela de Biología, 2014Euthyrhynchus floridanus (Linnaeus) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) es una especie neotropical perteneciente a la familia Pentatomidae con más de 4 000 especies descritas, y se distribuye desde la Florida hasta Brasil. Este estudio describe el comportamiento sexual y reporta por primera vez la producción de vibraciones de sustrato por machos y hembras durante el comportamiento precopulatorio y la cópula. Se grabó tanto el comportamiento de cortejo y de cópula como las diversas señales producidas utilizando un cartucho fonográfico, conectado a una cámara de video. 106 Rev. Biol. Trop. (Int. J. Trop. Biol. ISSN-0034-7744) Vol. 62 (1): 95-107 March 2014 Posteriormente se reprodujo las vibraciones de las hem- bras en ausencia de estas y se registró las respuestas de los machos. Se distinguieron al menos tres vibraciones de sustrato distintas para los machos y una para las hembras, y se caracterizaron por ser señales de baja frecuencia que van desde los 127 hasta 180Hz. Las sonidos de los machos en E. floridianus fueron significativamente diferentes en la frecuencia, duración y número de pulsos tanto en el cortejo como en la cópula para los sonidos de ronroneo y tamborileo. La producción de sonidos en esta especie se asoció principalmente con comportamientos estimulatorios- mecánicos durante el cortejo y copula. Patrones de comportamiento y su relación con las vibraciones del sustrato sugiere que estas señales pueden ser importantes para los machos en el contexto de la localización de su compañera y la selección sexual.Characterization of the behavioral and vibrational signals in Euthyrhynchus floridanus (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) during courtship and copulation. Euthyrhynchus floridanus (Linnaeus) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) is a neotropical species belonging to the family Pentatomidae with over 4 000 species described, and is distributed from Florida to Brazil. This study describes the sexual behavior and reported for the first time the production of substrate vibrations by males and females during copulatory behavior and mating. Courtship and copulatory behavior, as well as the diverse signals, were recorded with a phonographic cartridge connected to a video camera. Female vibrations were reproduced in the absence of females and the responses by males were recorded. At least three types of substrate vibrations were distinguished in males and one in females, and these signals were characterized by their low frequency, varying from 127 to 180Hz. The sounds of E. floridianus males were significantly different in frequency, duration and number of pulses, both in courtship and in copulation, for the purring and drumming sounds. The production of sounds in this species is associated principally with mechanical, stimulatory behavior during courtship and copulation. Patterns of behavior and their relation to substrate vibrations suggest that these signals are important for the males in the context of mate location and sexual selection.Universidad de Costa RicaUCR::Vicerrectoría de Docencia::Ciencias Básicas::Facultad de Ciencias::Escuela de Biologí

Reproductive biology and behavior of Doru taeniatum (Forficulidae)

artículo (arbitrado)--Universidad de Costa Rica. Estación Experimental Agrícola Fabio Baudrit Moreno (EEAFBM), 1988This study deals with the biology of Doru taeniatum, (Forficuüdae), particulary the habitat, feeding, reproduction, maternal care, and nymphal stages. The density of adults is higher in the older corn plants. The earwings were more often found at the top, where the leaves form a sheath in young plants. Corn fields are apparently eolonized during the early stages of growth by males and females: this permits the development of a least one generation. Complex and sterotyped fights occur among males and the secondary sexual modifications of the cerci play an important role. During courtship, vibratory movements of the abdomen of the male were observed an many occasions. The power spectrum of the signal showed peaks at several frecuencies (5.4 Hz was the strongest) probably, the main function of these signals is to make the females more receptive during countship.Universidad de Costa RicaUCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Unidades de Investigación::Ciencias Agroalimentarias::Estación Experimental Agrícola Fabio Baudrit Moreno (EEAFBM

Substrate vibrations in the scorpion Centruroides margaritatus (Scorpiones: Buthidae) during courtship

articulo (arbitrado)--Universidad de Costa Rica. Escuela de Biología, 2009Mating behavior in Centruroides margaritatus, as in other scorpion species, includes a series of rapid rocking or shaking movements of the male (“juddering”). It has been suggested that substrate vibrations are generated by juddering and that females respond to them by approaching the male, but its functional significance remains little studied. For the first time, substrate vibrations produced by males during courtship in Centruroides margaritatus are documented. The male started juddering after his first physical contact with the female and only one type of male vibratory signal was registered. The signal is produced during a series of rapid shaking of the male’s body from front to rear and consists of multiple short pulses. Each pulse is called a judder and several judders “a series”. The average duration of each judder was 0.018±0.009s (n=50) with an interval of 0.028±0.013s (n=50); the average duration of each series of judders was 4.2±3.5s with an interval between series of 3.5±6.3s and a rate of 0.21±0.17 series per second. The females responded in 72% of the time to the males juddering.Universidad de Costa RicaUCR::Vicerrectoría de Docencia::Ciencias Básicas::Facultad de Ciencias::Escuela de Biologí

The hub as a launching platform: rapid movements of the spider Leucauge mariana (Araneae: Tetragnathidae) as it turns to attack prey

artículo (arbitrado)--Universidad de Costa Rica. Escuela de Biología, 2011Spiders are effectively blind with respect to the lines in their webs, and they commonly use exploratory leg movements to find lines, just as a blind man finds objects using a cane. Nevertheless, a mature female Leucauge mariana (Keyserling 1881), which spins a relatively open, sparsely-meshed hub and whose legs I and II hold widely-spaced radii rather than dense hub lines, turns precisely and rapidly when prey strike her orb. She can turn . 90u, finding and grasping new lines with all her legs, in as little as 0.1 s and can reach a prey several body lengths away in as little as 0.23 s after impact. The hub design and resting postures of the spider’s legs allow her to sense where the prey strikes the web, generate the force necessary to turn her body rapidly, and find lines to grasp. The spider may move most (if not all) of her legs, without obtaining further guidance information once the leg has begun to move until it nears the site where it will grasp a line. The order in which legs are moved is relatively consistent, and each tarsus moves to a site where lines are relatively abundant; some then make small, quick searching movements to find and grasp lines there. When radial lines were experimentally cut near the hub in a sector in which a prey was subsequently introduced, legs I and II first made small searching movements, and then executed much larger searching movements. The rapid leg movements directed toward specific areas where lines are abundant, and the small searching movements employed at these sites suggest that the spider modifies her behavior when she is at the hub of an orb.Universidad de Costa RicaUCR::Vicerrectoría de Docencia::Ciencias Básicas::Facultad de Ciencias::Escuela de Biologí

Acoustic courtship songs in males of the fruit fly Anastrepha ludens (Diptera: Tephritidae) associated with geography, mass rearing and courtship success

artículo (arbitrado)--Universidad de Costa Rica. Escuela de Biología, 2009The Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) has been used successfully to control or eradicate fruit flies. The commonly observed inferiority of mass-reared males, compared with wild males, when they are paired with wild females, is apparently due to their inadequate courtship. Anastrepha ludens males produce two types of wing vibration during courtship and mating, the “calling sound” and the “premating or precopulatory sound”. There were clear differences in the calling songs between successful and unsuccessful courtships in sterile (irradiated) and fertile Mexican flies. Among sterile flies, successful males produce longer buzzes, shorter interpulses and a higher power spectrum in the signal. Fertile flies showed the same trend. For mating songs a significant difference occurred in two parameters: power spectrum between sterile and fertile flies with respect to the type of song, and the signal duration and intensity were greater in non-irradiated flies. Calling songs of wild flies compared with laboratory grown flies from Mexico had shorter interpulses, longer pulses, and a greater power spectrum. However, in the case of premating songs, the only difference was in the intensity, which was significantly greater in wild males. An unexpected result was not observing pulses during pheromone deposition in wild males from Costa Rica. Comparing the premating songs of wild flies from Costa Rica and Mexico, no significant differences were observed in the duration, and the intensity of the signal was slightly greater in fliesUniversidad de Costa Rica,Programa Moscamed MoscafrutUCR::Vicerrectoría de Docencia::Ciencias Básicas::Facultad de Ciencias::Escuela de Biologí

Courtship behavior of different wild strains of Ceratitis Capitata (Diptera: Tephritidae)

Este estudio documenta diferencias en el comportamiento de cortejo de cepas silvestres de Ceratitis capitata (Wied.) provenientes de Madeira (Portugal), Hawaii (Estados Unidos de Norte América), Costa Rica y Patagonia (Argentina). Algunas características mostraron grandes variaciones y traslape substancial. Los ángulos a los cuales los machos miraron hacia las hembras cambiaron muy poco en el momento de la transición de la vibración continua al zumbido intermitente durante el curso del cortejo en todo las cepas, pero los machos de Madeira tendieron a enfrentar más directamente a la hembra que otros machos. Los ángulos de las hembras disminuyeron claramente durante el cortejo en todas las cepas. La distancia entre el macho y la hembra tendió a disminuir conforme el cortejo continuaba en todas las cepas, pero las distancias a las cuales los machos iniciaron la vibración continua, el zumbido intermitente, y el salto sobre la hembra eran relativamente menos variables entre cepas excepto la cepa de Costa Rica. Moscas de Madeira cortejaron más tiempo y el macho movió su cabeza y zumbaba sus alas mas prolongadamente que las otras cepas.This study documents differences in the courtship behavior of wild strains of Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) from Madeira (Portugal), Hawaii (U.S.A.), Costa Rica, and Patagonia (Argentina). Some traits showed large variations and others substantial overlaps. The angle at which the male faced toward the female at the moment of transition from continuous wing vibration and intermittent buzzing changed very little during the course of courtship in all strains, but males from Madeira tended to face more directly toward the female than other males. Females tended to look more, and more directly, toward the males as courtship progressed in all strains. The distance between male and female tended to decrease as courtship proceeded in all strains, but the distances at which males initiated continuous vibration, intermittent buzzing, and jumped onto the female were relatively less variable between strains, except for the strain from Costa Rica. Flies of Madeira courted for longer and the male moved his head and buzzed his wings longer than the other strains.Universidad de Costa Rica, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Costa Rica. Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales Universidad de Buenos Aires. Technical Cooperation Division, IAEA, Wagramerstrasse. USDA/APHIS/CPHSTUCR::Vicerrectoría de Docencia::Ciencias Básicas::Facultad de Ciencias::Escuela de Biologí

How spiders determine clutch size

The relation (in spiders) between food ingestion during the ripening period of the eggs ans size of the brood show that there is reabsorption of eggs and that the average coeficients of variation for aH eggs sizes is closely related to the available sources. These coefficients are higher than those observed for deficient diets (P < 0.05). However at time of laying the average size of the eggs is the same. The spiders probably respond to the presence of great quantities of food by iniciating the development of a large number of eggs. If food consumtion is mantained, a series of additional eggs will be produced. Apparently, the physiological rocesses are linked in a simple manner to the action of a switch. The presence of a certain quantity of food in a given time is the signal that turns on the switch with the incorporation of material into the eggs.Varios experimentos examinan la relación (en varias especies de arañas) entre la ingestiónde alimento durante la maduración de los huevos y el tamaño de la camada. Hay evidencia de reabsorción de los huevos. El promedio de los coeficientes de variación para todos los tamaños de los huevos en los diferentes tratamientos muestra que cuando la cantidad de alimento se incrementa, estos coeficientes son mayores que en los casos de dietas deficientes (P < 0.05). Sin embargo, en ambos casos el tamaño de los huevos es el mismo. Las arañas probablemente responden a la presencia de grandes cantidades de alimento iniciando el desarrollo de muchos huevos. Si se mantiene el consumo de alimento, podría producirse un cierto número de huevos. Se infiere que los procesos fisiológicos estan ligados de manera sencilla a una conmutación (switch). La presencia de cierta cantidad de alimento en un tiempo determinado es la señal que inicia la conmutación con la incorporación de material a los huevos

Water contact during courtship of males of Archisepsis diversiformis (Sepsidae) R.

On uncut plants of Dieffenbachia (Araceae) male aggregations of Archisepsis diversiformis (Sepsidae) were observed fighting with each other and courting females. The males were observed repeatedly orienting toward water droplets, moving next to the droplet and leaning against it, alternatively, to the two sides of the body and using the legs from the opposite side to push against it. This movement was repeated up to seven times in one “bathing” event. The occasional “bath” probably helps to dissipate heat from the body surface, thus preventing a rise in body temperatureOn uncut plants of Dieffenbachia (Araceae) male aggregations of Archisepsis diversiformis (Sepsidae) were observed fighting with each other and courting females. The males were observed repeatedly orienting toward water droplets, moving next to the droplet and leaning against it, alternatively, to the two sides of the body and using the legs from the opposite side to push against it. This movement was repeated up to seven times in one “bathing” event. The occasional “bath” probably helps to dissipate heat from the body surface, thus preventing a rise in body temperature

Host plant use and possibly defensive horns in Trichochermes magna(Psilidae: Homoptera)

En un muestreo hecho en febrero a junio en puntarenas, costa rica, cuatro árboles de psidolmedia oxphylaria (moraceae) tenian agallas huellas del insecto. un 7% de agallas mostraban signos de parasitacion o depreracion. la mayoria de las agallas estaban en hojas jovenes, pero no huvo correlación entre el tamaño de la hoja y el numero de agallasEn un muestreo hecho en febrero a junio en puntarenas, costa rica, cuatro árboles de psidolmedia oxphylaria (moraceae) tenian agallas huellas del insecto. un 7% de agallas mostraban signos de parasitacion o depreracion. la mayoria de las agallas estaban en hojas jovenes, pero no huvo correlación entre el tamaño de la hoja y el numero de agalla