Abstract
Exposure to artificial changes in atmospheric pressure depressed the responsiveness of bark beetles to their aggregation pheromones.Scolytus multistriatus andIps pini held for 30 min in desiccator jars in which the pressure was modified ±25 mm experienced an inverse change when they were removed for laboratory bioassay. Relative response to pheromones among treatment groups of both species was as follows: ambient > increased > decreased > increased and decreased. In one series of 20 bioassays, response ofS. multistriatus was significantly higher for 9 tests during which no change in atmospheric pressure was detected, as compared to 11 tests during which there was a change in barometric reading. However, in another series of tests withS. multistriatus and a series withI. pini, no depression in response was associated with natural barometric shifts. Large air bubbles in the foregut (ventriculus) confirmed that both beetle species swallow air in preparation for flight. The hypothesis advanced by other workers, that bark beetles may detect changes in atmospheric pressure by shrinking and swelling of the ventricular air bubbles, is consistent with our observations. Sensitivity to atmospheric pressure fluctuations may be the mechanism by which response in laboratory bioassays is depressed during stormy weather and flight in nature is concentrated in periods of calm air.
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Coleoptera: Scolytidae.
This study was supported in part by the Northeastern Forest Experiment Station, USDA Forest Service under cooperative work agreement 23-509.
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Lanier, G.N., Burns, B.W. Barometric flux. J Chem Ecol 4, 139–147 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00988050
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00988050