Annales de la Société Entomologique de France (1976) 12, 433-451

M. Launois, J.R. Le Berre and M. Lecoq (1976)
Étude expérimentale de l'activité locomotrice du criquet migrateur malgache dans la nature
[Experimental study of the locomotor activity of the Madagascan migratory locust in nature]
Annales de la Société Entomologique de France 12 (3), 433-451
Abstract: Larvae and adults of solitary phase Locusta migratoria capito taken directly from the field were placed individually in small cages connected to actographs to provide continuous records of their locomotrcy activity. The experiments were conducted under insectary conditions at three locations in south-west Madagascar, and 97 adults and 13 5th instar larvae were tested for up to two months each, totalling respectively 674 and 170 daily recordings. At two of the locations there was a clear bimodal pattern of daily activity in both immatures and adults of both sexes, with one peak at about midday and another smaller peak at dusk. At the third location, the activity rhythm was unimodal rising to a peak in mid-afternoon which corresponded to the period of maximum air temperature. This third location differed from the others with the presence of many other locusts in rearing cages, and it is suggested that grouping modifies the diurnal rhythm and leads particularly to a cessation of crepuscular activity. Supporting evidence for this hypothesis from the literature and from certain subsidiary experiments is reviewed and discussed. The bimodal pattern was lost in starved locusts andin gravid females, being substituted in both cases by greatly increased activity during the hottest part of the day. The temperature threshold for activity was about 17 °C. Interpretational problems arising from the work are discussed, including the extent to which locomotory activity in the cages can be regarded as a substitute for flight, and the influence on the results of the considerable heterogeneity in insects taken from natural populations.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied from Acridological Abstracts with permission by NRI, Univ. of Greenwich at Medway.)
(original language: French)
Database assignments for author(s): Michel Lecoq

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
general biology - morphology - evolution

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Locusta migratoria		Madagascar