Effects of high and low temperatures on the rhythmic patterns in pit-building behavior of antlion larvae

ABSTRACT

Temperature influences the survival, growth, and development of insects including the antlion. In the present study, we examined the 24-h rhythm in the pit-building behavior of the antlion larvae at three different temperature conditions, high (37°C), low (17°C), and room temperature (Control: 25.9 ± 0.2°C). We recorded pit-building activities by monitoring two variables: the Time Lag for the Initiation of Pit Reconstruction (TLIPR) after the demolition of the pit, and the Total Time for Pit Construction (TTPC). We monitored TLIPR and TTPC at four different time points with equidistant intervals (i.e. 08:00–10:00 h, 14:00–16:00 h, 20:00–22:00 h, and 02:00–04:00 h) each day over three consecutive days. We employed single Cosinor rhythmometry to evaluate the characteristics of 24-h rhythm in TLIPR and TTPC. We used one-way ANOVA to find out the effects of the temperature on TLIPR and TTPC. We detected a statistically significant 24-h rhythm in TLIPR at the group level, irrespective of the temperature conditions. 24-h rhythm in TTPC was abolished at high and low temperatures. Temperature significantly affected TLIPR and TTPC in general. It also significantly affected the mesor of the rhythms in both variables as well as the amplitude of TTPC. Finally, we noted that although high and low temperatures affected the pit-building behavior in general, the thermal conditions did not lead to a complete cessation of pit-building activities. The 24-h rhythmic pattern associated with TTPC is more susceptible to the effects of thermal regimes (17°C or 37°C) unlike that associated with TLIPR.

KEYWORDS:

• Antlion larvae
• pit-building behavior
• 24-hour rhythm
• temperature
• time lag for initiation of pit reconstruction
• total time for pit construction

Acknowledgments

This work is a part of the Ph.D. program of one of the authors (PC). We are grateful to the University Grants Commission, New Delhi, for financial support through its DRS-SAP scheme sanctioned in the thrust area – Chronobiology to the School of Studies in Life Science, Pandit Ravishankar Shukla University, Raipur. We are obliged to the Head of the Department, School of Studies in Life Science, Pandit Ravishankar Shukla University, Raipur for logistics support. We are also obliged to two anonymous reviewers for offering us valuable suggestions for improving the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The authors confirm that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article and its supplementary materials.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the University Grants Commission, New Delhi, India under the scheme of Joint CSIR-UGC NET for Junior Research Fellowship [F. No. 16-9 (June 2017)/2018(NET/CSIR), UGC-Ref. No.: 883/(CSIR-UGC NET JUNE 2017) dated 26 December 2018] to PC.