Aggregation Site Choice by Gregarious Nymphs of the Desert Locust, Schistocerca gregaria, in the Sahara Desert of Mauritania
Animals often aggregate at certain sites during vulnerable periods such as night-roosting as an anti-predatory strategy. Some migratory gregarious animals must regularly find new night-roosting sites, but how they synchronously choose such sites is poorly understood. We examined how gregarious nymph...
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| Format: | Article |
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MDPI AG
2018-08-01
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| Series: | Insects |
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| Online Access: | http://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/9/3/99 |
| _version_ | 1818916647527776256 |
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| author | Koutaro Ould Maeno Mohamed Abdallahi Ould Babah Ebbe |
| author_facet | Koutaro Ould Maeno Mohamed Abdallahi Ould Babah Ebbe |
| author_sort | Koutaro Ould Maeno |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Animals often aggregate at certain sites during vulnerable periods such as night-roosting as an anti-predatory strategy. Some migratory gregarious animals must regularly find new night-roosting sites, but how they synchronously choose such sites is poorly understood. We examined how gregarious nymphs of the desert locust, Schistocerca gregaria Forskål (Orthoptera: Acrididae), aggregate at certain plants for night-roosting in the Sahara Desert. Migratory bands of last instar nymphs climbed trees around dusk and roosted there overnight. A spatial autocorrelation analysis of plants indicated that the larger locust groups formed at the larger plants within the local plant community. Other large groups were not formed near the large tree, but smaller groups were patchily distributed. Plant height was the primary cue used by migratory bands to choose night-roosting plants. A nearest-neighbor distance analysis showed that single conspicuous large trees with scattered smaller plants were distributed locally. This plant community structure and negative geotactic ascending behavior of gregarious nymphs may force them to concentrate at the landmark plant from all directions and afar. This plant-size-dependent roosting site choice may contribute for developing artificial trapping systems for locusts and inciting to a new environment-friendly night control approach. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-20T00:21:30Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-da572964404a42bc867ae0988ba07f70 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2075-4450 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-20T00:21:30Z |
| publishDate | 2018-08-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Insects |
| spelling | doaj.art-da572964404a42bc867ae0988ba07f702022-12-21T20:00:10ZengMDPI AGInsects2075-44502018-08-01939910.3390/insects9030099insects9030099Aggregation Site Choice by Gregarious Nymphs of the Desert Locust, Schistocerca gregaria, in the Sahara Desert of MauritaniaKoutaro Ould Maeno0Mohamed Abdallahi Ould Babah Ebbe1Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS), Livestock and Environment Division, Ohwashi 1-1, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8686, JapanThe Mauritanian Desert Locust Centre: Centre National de Lutte Antiacridienne (CNLA), Nouakchott, BP 665, MauritaniaAnimals often aggregate at certain sites during vulnerable periods such as night-roosting as an anti-predatory strategy. Some migratory gregarious animals must regularly find new night-roosting sites, but how they synchronously choose such sites is poorly understood. We examined how gregarious nymphs of the desert locust, Schistocerca gregaria Forskål (Orthoptera: Acrididae), aggregate at certain plants for night-roosting in the Sahara Desert. Migratory bands of last instar nymphs climbed trees around dusk and roosted there overnight. A spatial autocorrelation analysis of plants indicated that the larger locust groups formed at the larger plants within the local plant community. Other large groups were not formed near the large tree, but smaller groups were patchily distributed. Plant height was the primary cue used by migratory bands to choose night-roosting plants. A nearest-neighbor distance analysis showed that single conspicuous large trees with scattered smaller plants were distributed locally. This plant community structure and negative geotactic ascending behavior of gregarious nymphs may force them to concentrate at the landmark plant from all directions and afar. This plant-size-dependent roosting site choice may contribute for developing artificial trapping systems for locusts and inciting to a new environment-friendly night control approach.http://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/9/3/99aggregationmigrationnight roosting siteplant communityphase polyphenismSchistocerca gregaria |
| spellingShingle | Koutaro Ould Maeno Mohamed Abdallahi Ould Babah Ebbe Aggregation Site Choice by Gregarious Nymphs of the Desert Locust, Schistocerca gregaria, in the Sahara Desert of Mauritania Insects aggregation migration night roosting site plant community phase polyphenism Schistocerca gregaria |
| title | Aggregation Site Choice by Gregarious Nymphs of the Desert Locust, Schistocerca gregaria, in the Sahara Desert of Mauritania |
| title_full | Aggregation Site Choice by Gregarious Nymphs of the Desert Locust, Schistocerca gregaria, in the Sahara Desert of Mauritania |
| title_fullStr | Aggregation Site Choice by Gregarious Nymphs of the Desert Locust, Schistocerca gregaria, in the Sahara Desert of Mauritania |
| title_full_unstemmed | Aggregation Site Choice by Gregarious Nymphs of the Desert Locust, Schistocerca gregaria, in the Sahara Desert of Mauritania |
| title_short | Aggregation Site Choice by Gregarious Nymphs of the Desert Locust, Schistocerca gregaria, in the Sahara Desert of Mauritania |
| title_sort | aggregation site choice by gregarious nymphs of the desert locust schistocerca gregaria in the sahara desert of mauritania |
| topic | aggregation migration night roosting site plant community phase polyphenism Schistocerca gregaria |
| url | http://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/9/3/99 |
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