Bioenergetics of the cave cricket, Hadenoecus subterraneus

1. 1. In late spring, cave crickets in Mammoth Cave National Park were investigated in order that their bioenergetics might be elucidated.2. 2. A predictive relation between crop-empty live weight and hind femur length independent of sex was found.3. 3. Long-term weight loss patterns were 1.55 and 1.19mg/hr for females and males, respectively, suggesting feeding intervals of 11.5 and 9.9 days.4. 4. Calorific assimilation efficiencies were found to be 80.4% for females and 82.5% for males.5. 5. The estimated maximal metabolic rates were half that expected for insects of similar mass.6. 6. The mixed waste calorific levels were found to be exceptionally low.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/26417/1/0000504.pd

Water budgets of cave crickets, Hadenoecus subterraneus and camel crickets, Ceuthophilus stygius

1. 1. Studies of cave and camel crickets from cave entrances in Mammoth Cave National Park have produced estimates of total water budgets and component contributions to water balance.2. 2. Weight specific (mg/g crop-free live weight/hr) total water loss (3.200 vs 2.220) and water gained in food (2.393 vs 1.902) are greater in cave than in camel crickets, respectively.3. 3. Weight specific evaporative water loss in both humid, still air (2.269 vs 1.325) and dry, moving air (15.28 vs 9.85) is greater in cave than in camel crickets, respectively.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/26939/1/0000505.pd

Biology of cave crickets, Hadenoecus subterraneus, and camel crickets, Ceuthophilus stygius (Insecta: Orthoptera): Metabolism and water economies related to size and temperature

1. 1. Metabolic rate (MR) and water budget (WB) components of cave and camel crickets are directly related to size and temperature.2. 2. MR increases most rapidly with size for insects in general followed by cave crickets (females > males), and lastly, camel crickets (no sex differences).3. 3. Metabolic thermal sensitivity of cave crickets (males > females) is much greater than camel crickets.4. 4. WB components parallel MR relations.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/28824/1/0000658.pd

Bioenergetics of camel crickets (Ceuthophilus carlsbadensis, C. longipes and C. Conicaudus) from carlsbad caverns national park, new mexico

1. 1. Camel crickets in Carlsbad Caverns National Park exhibit linear long-term weight loss patterns for combined sexes of 1.05 mg/hr for Ceuthophilus carlsbadensis, 0.261 mg/hr for C. conicaudus, and 0.321 mg/hr for C. longipes.2. 2. From these patterns, maximal foraging intervals for females and males, respectively, of 5.1 and 4.4 days for C. carlsbadensis, 4.6 and 5.7 days for C. longipes, and 5.0 and 4.2 days for C. conicaudus were predicted.3. 3. Calculated metabolic rates (cal/hr) of 1.04 for C. carlsbadensis and 0.52 for C. longipes were half that predicted for epigean species of similar size.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/30490/1/0000118.pd

Bioenergetics of the camel cricket Ceuthophilus stygius

1. 1. In early summer, camel crickets in Mammoth Cave National Park exhibit a sex-specific relationship between crop-empty live weight and hind femur length.2. 2. They also exhibit curvilinear long-term weight loss patterns averaging 2.67 and 3.13 mg/hr for females and males, respectively, and caloric assimilation efficiencies of 65.6 and 70.5% for females and males, respectively.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/26935/1/0000501.pd

Descubriendo la riqueza de las Cuevas: La Cueva de Villa Luz, en Tabasco

Sabías que…La Cueva de Villa Luz es famosa por su singular ambiente, rico en compuestos de azufre. Esta cueva se encuentra entre las más peligrosas para los humanos, ya que en su interior hay grandes concentraciones de gas sulfhídrico, muy tóxico, que le da a la cueva el típico olor a huevo podrido. La Villa Luz es el típico ejemplo de una cueva cuyo desarrollo y crecimiento se encuentran aún activos, debido a la acción del ácido sulfúrico. Este ácido es generado por el desecho metabólico de las colonias de bacterias, que obtienen sulfuro de hidrógeno de las rocas. El ácido sulfúrico es un elemento natural que interviene en varios procesos biogeoquímicos responsables de la formación de la cuev

Comparison of bacterial communities from lava cave microbial mats to overlying surface soils from Lava Beds National Monument, USA

<div><p>Subsurface habitats harbor novel diversity that has received little attention until recently. Accessible subsurface habitats include lava caves around the world that often support extensive microbial mats on ceilings and walls in a range of colors. Little is known about lava cave microbial diversity and how these subsurface mats differ from microbial communities in overlying surface soils. To investigate these differences, we analyzed bacterial 16S rDNA from 454 pyrosequencing from three colors of microbial mats (tan, white, and yellow) from seven lava caves in Lava Beds National Monument, CA, USA, and compared them with surface soil overlying each cave. The same phyla were represented in both surface soils and cave microbial mats, but the overlap in shared OTUs (operational taxonomic unit) was only 11.2%. Number of entrances per cave and temperature contributed to observed differences in diversity. In terms of species richness, diversity by mat color differed, but not significantly. <i>Actinobacteria</i> dominated in all cave samples, with 39% from caves and 21% from surface soils. <i>Proteobacteria</i> made up 30% of phyla from caves and 36% from surface soil. Other major phyla in caves were <i>Nitrospirae</i> (7%) followed by minor phyla (7%), compared to surface soils with <i>Bacteroidetes</i> (8%) and minor phyla (8%). Many of the most abundant sequences could not be identified to genus, indicating a high degree of novelty. Surface soil samples had more OTUs and greater diversity indices than cave samples. Although surface soil microbes immigrate into underlying caves, the environment selects for microbes able to live in the cave habitats, resulting in very different cave microbial communities. This study is the first comprehensive comparison of bacterial communities in lava caves with the overlying soil community.</p></div

Plot of phyla and <i>Proteobacteria</i> class that were differentialy abundant between LABE surface soils and lava cave microbial mats.

<p>The band is the median, and the box delineates the upper and lower quartile. The whiskers show the maximum and minimum values. All data points are shown.</p

NMDS (Non-Metric Dimensional Scaling).

<p>NMDS separates out lava cave mat communities at the phylum level, with <i>Proteobacteria</i> split out by class, from the overlying surface soils. Circles show the 95% confidence interval.</p

Characteristics of the seven study cave sites in LABE.

<p>Characteristics of the seven study cave sites in LABE.</p