insect communication

Question 1

What is communication?

Answer 1

a signal produced by one individual that causes a change in behavior of another conspecific individual

Question 2

What are the MAJOR modes of communication in insects?

Answer 2

1. chemicals (pheromones)
2. light
3. sound

Question 3

What is the range, rate of change, move around obstacles and energetic cost of visual signals in insects?

Answer 3

range: medium
rate of change: fast
move around obstacles: poor
energetic cost: low

Question 4

What is the range, rate of change, move around obstacles and energetic cost of acoustical signals in insects?

Answer 4

range: long
rate of change: fast
move around obstacles: good
energetic cost: high

Question 5

What is the range, rate of change, move around obstacles and energetic cost of tactile signals in insects?

Answer 5

range: short
rate of change: fast
move around obstacles: poor
energetic cost: low

Question 6

What is the range, rate of change, move around obstacles and energetic cost of chemical signals in insects?

Answer 6

range: long
rate of change: slow
move around obstacles: good
energetic cost: low

Question 7

What are pheromones?

Answer 7

chemical signals that carry a message between conspecifics

Question 8

Where are volatile pheromones?

Answer 8

percieved by olfactory sensilla on the antennae (moths, bark beetles and aphids)

Question 9

What are non-volatile pheromones?

Answer 9

deposited on a surface and percieved by gustatory sensilla on antennae or tarsi (cheery fruit flies)

Question 10

What is a major benefit of using pheromones?

Answer 10

extreme species specificity although often through multicomponent blends

Question 11

What are pheromones in danaid butterflies?

Answer 11

modified pyrrolizidine alkaloids obtained from plants

Question 12

Where are pheromones often synthesized?

Answer 12

in exocrine glands

Question 13

What is the synthesis of pheromones regulated by?

Answer 13

PBAN (pheromones biosynthesis activating neurohormone) produced by the subesophageal ganglion

Question 14

What is a draw back of pheromone use?

Answer 14

they can be intercepted or even secreted by predators

Question 15

What does the american bolas spider catch through secretion of pheromones?

Answer 15

smoky moth and bristly cutworm

Question 16

What does the checkerd beetle catch through interception of pheromones?

Answer 16

bark beetle

Question 17

What are two types of pheromones?

Answer 17

releasers and primers

Question 18

What do releaser pheromones do?

Answer 18

cause an imediate behavioral response in the receiving individual

Question 19

What do primer pheromones do?

Answer 19

cause longterm physiological changes in receivers

Question 20

What are some types of receiver pheromones?

Answer 20

• sex attractants: often released by female - long distance
• aggregation:
• spacing (epideictic)
• alarm
• Trail

Question 21

What do aggregation pheromones do?

Answer 21

brings many conspecifics together quickly

egL mass attack of bark beetles on trees to overcome resin defenses

Question 22

What do spacing pheromones do?

Answer 22

evoke behaviors that lead to increased space between individuals
(eg: apple maggot flying oviposition deturrent pheromone)

Question 23

What does an alarm pheromone do?

Answer 23

stimulates escape or other defensive behaviors

eg: honeybee sting incites nestmates to sting, aphid attacked by predator causes others to flee

Question 24

What are trail pheromones used for?

Answer 24

insects lay trails to food sources

eg: foraging ants

Question 25

What are some types of primer pheromones?

Answer 25

• colony pheromones

- gregarization pheromones

Question 26

What do colony recognition pheromones do?

Answer 26

kin and colony recognition, control of reproduction and kin number, foraging behavior.

• normally produced by the queen and have both releaser and primer effects
• used by social insects

Question 27

What do gregarization pheromones do?

Answer 27

cause transformations in locusts from the solitary phase to the gregarious phase.

• includes both releaser and primer effects
• produced in feces

Question 28

What are the practical applications of insect pheromones?

Answer 28

• detection of pests (eg: gypsy moth in bc, beetles stored in grain)
• Population monitoring
• Mating disruption
• mass trapping
• attract and kill
• honeybee queen pheromone

Question 29

What is an example of population monitoring in regards to pheromones?

Answer 29

codling moths in okanagan orchards. Traps indicate time of adult flights and population size - predicts when eggs will be laid. pest management practices can be timed for optimal efficiency

Question 30

What is mating distribution in regards to pheromones?

Answer 30

sex pheromones of a species is identified and synthesized in large quantities. the synthetic pheromone is then released in great quantities in farm or orchard so males will be confused and unable to locate females with which to mate
eg: used on codling moth, fireworm and tomato pinkworm

Question 31

What are some common types of pheromone traps?

Answer 31

• delta trap
• bucket trap
• wing trap

Question 32

What does mass trapping do?

Answer 32

removes sufficient individuals from a population in order to reduce economic loss
eg: ambrosia beetles around bc sawmills

Question 33

What is the attract and kill method?

Answer 33

synthetic sex attractant pheromone is mixed with tiny amount of insecticide –> attracts males and kills them

Question 34

What are two commercial honeybee queen pheromones and what do they do?

Answer 34

1. fruit boostTM –> increases fruit yields by increasing bee pollinating activities
2. Bee boostTM –> calming effect on bees when they are being shipped which increases their survival rate

Question 35

What is an insect that uses light production to communicate? how?

Answer 35

fireflies via a flashing organ in their abdomen

• used in mating and courtship
• pattern of flashes in species specific (duration and frequency)

Question 36

What are three different mechanisms of sound production in insects?

Answer 36

1. byproduct of usual activity eg: wingbeat frequency, thoracic vibration of queen honeybee
2. impact of body on substrate eg: deathwatch beetles tap walls of their galleries in wood with heads to make ticking sound
3. special mechanisms

Question 37

What are three types of special mechanisms involved in the production of sound in insects?

Answer 37

1. frictional mechanisms - strudulation
2. vibrating membranes
3. air movement

Question 38

What are frictional mechanisms that produce sound in insects?

Answer 38

• crickets and katydid rub their forewings (tegmina) together. one wing has a scraper while other has a file.
• grasshoppers use row of pegs on hind femur which they scrape against the abdomen
• waterboatmen run forelegs against back of head capsule to produce high frequency chirps that can be transmitted underwater
• mate location/courtship mechanisms

Question 39

What are vibrating membranes that produce sound in insects?

Answer 39

• cicadas have a tymbal (elastic membrane stretched over a hollow cavity in the 1st and 2nd segments). rapid muscle contractions cause high frequency vibrations that ar amplified by the hollow area. tone regulated by tension

Question 40

What are air movements that produce sound in insects?

Answer 40

air forced through spiracles causes hissing in coackroach + squeak in june beetle
- defense mechanisms