Abstract
Laboratory studies were conducted to determine the ability of colonies of the eastern tent caterpillar, Malacosoma Americanum (Lepidoptera:Lasiocampidae), to abandon long-lived pheromone trails to depleted feeding sites and to follow the most direct and shortest of pathways between their tent and new food-finds. For the first of these studies, the caterpillars in all but one of fourteen colonies quickly abandoned well established trails to sites depleted of leaves after discovering and feeding at unexploited patches elsewhere. Interval-sampling of video frames of caterpillars moving over three-choice mazes between their tent and feeding sites in the second study showed that the caterpillars strongly favored trials that directly connected their tents and feeding sites, largely abandoning spur trails laid down during the exploratory phase of the contemporary foray. In the third study, all of the caterpillars in sixteen of seventeen colonies selected the shorter of two pathways between their tent and a feeding site on their first return trip to the new food-find or after one or more additional forays. Together, these studies indicate that the caterpillar’s bi-level, trail-based foraging system enables colonies to efficiently navigate the expansive three-dimensional complex of long-persistent trails that lie between their communal tent and distant food-finds.
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Data Availability
The datasets generated during the course of this study are available from the author on reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
The author gratefully acknowledges the assistance of Catharine Dawson in locating and collecting the eggs of the tent caterpillar.
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Terrence D. Fitzgerald conducted all of the studies reported in this paper, prepared all of the figures, recorded all the supplementary videos. and wrote the manuscript.
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Supplementary Online Resource 1 (Abandon depleted feeding site): 10:50 Caterpillars move onto arena, 11:10-12:30 Caterpillars feed at food placed at left arm of maze then and return to tent, 4:32 - 6:50 Caterpillars feed again at food on left arm and return to tent, 10:30 -1:00 Caterpillars return to old feeding site, now depleted, discover new food at end of right arm feed and return to tent, 4:40 – 7:10 FB1 (MP4 322258 KB)
Supplementary Online Resource 2 (Three-choice maze pre-explored): 2:30 Caterpillars move onto arena, 4:45 Caterpillars moving freely over whole of arena, 6:12 Caterpillars access branch of cherry placed at end of maze and feed, 7:50 All of the caterpillars have fed and are back in the tent, 1:40 -4:50 FB1 (MP4 242285 KB)
Supplementary Online Resource 3 (Three-choice maze not pre-explored): 8:30 Caterpillars move onto arena, 10:00Caterpillars discover food, 12:00 Colony has fed and returned to tent, 5:40 -7:54 FB1 (MP4 38656 KB)
Supplementary Online Resource 4 (Shortest Path): 7:08 Caterpillars begin to move onto arena, 9:20 Caterpillars freely moving over whole of arena, 10:40 Accessible food branch placed at end of lower (C) food bridge, 12:40 Colony has finished feeding and returned to the tent, 4.20-6:00 FB1 (MP4 161 MB)
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Fitzgerald, T.D. Colonies of the Eastern Tent Caterpillar Malacosoma americanum (Lepidoptera:Lasiocampidae) Abandon Trails to Depleted Feeding Sites and Follow the Most Direct and Shortest Pathways Between their Tent and Food-Finds. J Insect Behav 36, 277–289 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10905-023-09840-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10905-023-09840-9