BEHAVIOURAL THERMOREGULATION IN THE FREEZE-TOLERANT ARCTIC CATERPILLAR

(Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae) spent most (60 %) of their time orienting towards the sun (i.e. basking) and only 20 % feeding, primarily near midday. Larvae usually basked after feeding, then either fed again or moved to a new feeding site. Basking larvae reached their highest body temperatures (Tb) of...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Gynaephora Groenlandica, Olga Kukal, Bernd Heinrich, John, G. Duman
Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: 1988
Subjects:
Arctic
Online Access:http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.482.4904
http://jeb.biologists.org/content/138/1/181.full.pdf
Description
Summary:(Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae) spent most (60 %) of their time orienting towards the sun (i.e. basking) and only 20 % feeding, primarily near midday. Larvae usually basked after feeding, then either fed again or moved to a new feeding site. Basking larvae reached their highest body temperatures (Tb) of =30°C (~20°C in excess of the ambient temperature) when surrounded by snow on a calm day in the midday sun. Setae significantly decreased larval cooling rates. Maximal metabolic rates were attained in basking larvae, but at body temperatures below 10°C oxygen uptake was greatly reduced. Our studies indicate that G. groenlandica larvae are behaviourally adapted to utilize available solar radiation for growth and development.

Similar Items