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Hormonal Control of Egg Dumping and Guarding in the Lace Bug, Gargaphia solani (Hemiptera: Tingidae)

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Abstract

This study examines the effect of juvenile hormone (JH) or a similarly acting juvenoid on the expression of maternal egg guarding and its life history alternative, egg dumping, in the lace bug, Gargaphia solani Heidemann. JH manipulations were indirect: methoprene, a synthetic JH analog, and precocene II, an allatocidal phytochemical commonly used to reduce JH synthesis, were applied exogenously to test the hypothesis that high JH titers promote egg production and egg dumping behavior, while low titers terminate egg production and initiate maternal care. As predicted, egg dumpers treated with precocene II ignored dumping opportunities and became egg guarders. Similarly, egg guarders that were treated with methoprene became gravid within 2 days and abandoned their eggs to become egg dumpers. These manipulations suggest that hormones can trigger the expression of both egg dumping and egg guarding in G. solani even when environmental conditions are inappropriate.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Delaware Agricultural Experiment Station, Department of Entomology and Applied Ecology, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware, 19717-1303

    Douglas W. Tallamy

  2. Animal Science Department, Texas A&M, Kingsville, Texas, 78363

    Erin L. Monaco

  3. College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware, 19717-1303

    John D. Pesek

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  1. Douglas W. Tallamy
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  2. Erin L. Monaco
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  3. John D. Pesek
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Correspondence to Douglas W. Tallamy.

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Tallamy, D.W., Monaco, E.L. & Pesek, J.D. Hormonal Control of Egg Dumping and Guarding in the Lace Bug, Gargaphia solani (Hemiptera: Tingidae). Journal of Insect Behavior 15, 467–475 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1016325115747

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