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Causes of variation in body size and consequences for the life history of Sitodiplosis mosellana1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 April 2012

M.A.H. Smith*
Affiliation:
Cereal Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 195 Dafoe Road, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R3T 2M9
R.J. Lamb
Affiliation:
Cereal Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 195 Dafoe Road, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R3T 2M9
*
2Corresponding author (e-mail: msmith@agr.gc.ca).

Abstract

The body sizes of mature larvae and adults from field and laboratory populations of the wheat midge, Sitodiplosis mosellana (Géhin) (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae), were measured to determine possible causes of variation in size and consequences of such variation through the life history. Mature larvae varied eightfold in mass. Female larvae were 80% heavier than males, on average. Variation in mass was associated with both the position of larvae on a wheat spike and the number feeding together on a developing seed. Larvae were 9% smaller when they developed on smaller, later developing seeds and 15%–18% smaller when they competed with five other larvae on an average-sized seed. Fewer small larvae survived winter. Larval density per infested seed increased with number of larvae per spike, suggesting that larval size may have density-dependent population effects. Small larvae produced few adults of Macroglenes penetrans (Kirby) (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae), an egg parasitoid that overwinters as a larva in the third larval instar of S. mosellana. These effects were probably due to size, but sex may also have been a factor. The size of adults, measured by wing and abdomen length, was also variable, although less so than the size of larvae. Adult size was not associated with time of emergence and both large and small females dispersed, but female fecundity (4–105 mature eggs per individual) increased with body size.

Résumé

Nous avons mesuré la taille de larves matures et d'adultes de populations en nature et en laboratoire de la cécidomyie du blé, Sitodiplosis mosellana (Géhin) (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae), afin de déterminer les causes possibles de la variation de la taille et les répercussions qui s'ensuivent au cours du cycle biologique. La masse des larves matures varie par un facteur de huit. Les larves femelles sont en moyenne 80 % plus lourdes que les larves mâles. La variation de la masse est liée à la fois à la position de la larve sur l'épi de blé et au nombre de larves qui se nourrissent ensemble sur un même grain en croissance. Les larves ont une taille inférieure de 9 % lorsqu'elles se développent sur des grains plus petits et plus tardifs et de 15 % – 18 % lorsqu'elles font compétition avec cinq autres larves sur un même grain de taille moyenne. Un nombre réduit de petites larves survivent à l'hiver. La densité des larves par grain infesté augmente en fonction du nombre de larves par épi, ce qui laisse croire que la taille des larves peut produire des effets démographiques reliés à la densité. Les petites larves produisent peu d'adultes de Macroglenes penetrans (Kirby) (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae), un parasitoïde des oeufs qui passe l'hiver à l'état larvaire dans les larves de troisième stade de S. mosellana. Ces effets sont probablement reliés à la taille, mais le sexe des larves peut aussi entrer en jeu. La taille des adultes, soit la longueur des ailes et de l'abdomen, est aussi variable, mais moins que la taille des larves. La taille des adultes n'est pas reliée au moment de l'émergence et les femelles, tant petites que grandes, se dispersent; cependant, la fécondité des femelles (4–105 oeufs matures par individu) augmente en fonction de la taille.

[Traduit par la Rédaction]

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Entomological Society of Canada 2004

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Footnotes

1

Contribution 1879 of the Cereal Research Centre, Winnipeg.

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