Oxygen-limited thermal tolerance is seen in a plastron-breathing insect and can be induced in a bimodal gas exchanger.

ABSTRACT: Thermal tolerance has been hypothesized to result from a mismatch between oxygen supply and demand. However, the generality of this hypothesis has been challenged by studies on various animal groups, including air-breathing adult insects. Recently, comparisons across taxa have suggested that differences in gas exchange mechanisms could reconcile the discrepancies found in previous studies. Here, we test this suggestion by comparing the behaviour of related insect taxa with different gas exchange mechanisms, with and without access to air. We demonstrate oxygen-limited thermal tolerance in air-breathing adults of the plastron-exchanging water bug Aphelocheirus aestivalis. Ilyocoris cimicoides, a related, bimodal gas exchanger, did not exhibit such oxygen-limited thermal tolerance and relied

SUBMITTER: Verberk WC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4510840 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature