Monday, December 11, 2006 - 9:23 AM
0359

Spatial pattern of habitat impacts oviposition pattern of red flour beetle (Tribolium castaneum) over multiple scales

Susan Romero, sreidel@ksu.edu1, James Campbell, james.campbell@gmprc.ksu.edu2, and James Nechols, jnechols@ksu.edu1. (1) Kansas State University, Department of Entomology, Manhattan, KS, (2) USDA-ARS-GMPRC, Biological Research Unit, 1515 College Av, Manhattan, KS

We examined how habitat spatial pattern influences red flour beetle exploration and oviposition patterns by releasing females into fragmented, intermediate, and clumped patterned landscapes. Fractal landscape patterns were computer generated producing different arrangements and sizes of flour habitat patches over a grid of 2 x 2 cm cells. Habitat abundance was held constant at 108 cells per landscape. Cell visits and degree of exploration by individual female beetles were recorded every 24 h over a 48 h observation period. At the conclusion of the observation period each 2 x 2 cm cell was removed individually from the landscape and checked for eggs. Habitat exploration and oviposition patterns were assessed at single cell, patch, and landscape scales. Eggs per cell ranged from 1 to 7, but 1 or 2 eggs were most frequently observed. Total number of eggs laid and proportion of habitat explored were similar on the various landscapes, but there were differences in the spatial pattern of oviposition. On clumped landscapes there were more cells with single eggs than on the other landscape types. Females laid more eggs in larger habitat patches than in single cell patches even on fragmented landscapes where single cell patches were most abundant. On all landscapes, cells with eggs tended to be aggregated rather than isolated, but the degree of aggregation was less on fragmented landscapes. Our results indicate that habitat pattern does not influence habitat connectivity, but does impact the oviposition process of red flour beetle over multiple scales.


Species 1: Coleoptera Tenebrionidae Tribolium castaneum (red flour beetle)

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