U. S.-Mexico Collaborative Research: Foraging and Processionary Behavior of Phelypera Distigma (Coleoptera:Curculionidae)

Suny College At Cortland, Cortland NY

Investigators

Abstract

0205841 Fitzgerald This U.S.-Mexico award will support Dr. Terrence Fitzgerald of SUNY at Cortland, in a research collaboration with Dr. Alfonso Rubio Pescador of the Universidad de Colima in Tecoman, Mexico. The researchers intend to describe and analyze the trail-based foraging system of the larva of Phelypera distigma, a beetle larva. Studies of social caterpillars conducted over the last two decades have shown that the caterpillars of some moths and butterflies use pheromones to define the limits of their foraging arenas and to facilitate en masse movements between resting and feeding sites. The communication systems allow successful foragers to direct siblings to food finds and they resemble the recruitment systems of ants and termites. Compared to the extensive knowledge of pheromone-based communication in other insects, very little is known of the extent to which caterpillars use pheromones to facilitate group living and cooperative foraging. The research proposed here will be the first study of trial marking and processionary behavior in these communal beetle larva. The collaborators will bring complementary skills to the project. The Mexican counterpart scientist has many years of field experience in the tropics and knowledge of the biology and ecology of tropical insects, particularly insect larvae. The US investigator brings to the project a broad background in the study of sociality in caterpillars and of the methods needed to study and analyze their communication systems. In addition, an undergraduate student will be involved in the research. The study will lead to a better understanding of the similarities between foraging systems of different insects and provide perspective on the role of ecological factors in the evolution of trail-based communicative systems.