Conserved temperature requirements but contrasting responses to humidity across oviposition preferences in temperate grasshoppers.

ABSTRACT: The right choice of an oviposition site is a crucial task for oviparous species without maternal care. In contrast to well investigated biotic factors, e.g., larval food preferences, parasitism, predation, and competition avoiding, abiotic factors affecting oviposition preferences in insects have been rarely investigated in comparative studies. To improve our current understanding of oviposition site selection in Orthoptera, we investigated the influence of substrate temperature and moisture on the oviposition behaviour of 14 temperate grasshopper species. Conspecific groups of adults were kept in arenas with simultaneous temperature and moisture gradients. For each ootheca produced during the experiment (n = 1192) we recorded its depth and local microclimatic conditions. Our results indic

SUBMITTER: Dvorak T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10689742 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature