Article
Recent changes in reproductive phenology of a K-selected aquatic insect predator, Belostoma flumineum Say (Heteroptera, Belostomatidae)
Bulletin of Entomological Research
(2018)
Abstract
The timing of critical events like mating, migration, and development has notice- ably and recently shifted in many populations of diverse organisms. Here, we report a change in the breeding phenology of giant waterbugs, Belostoma flumineumSay (Heteroptera, Belostomatidae), in the northeastern United States. Waterbugs col- lected in 2005 and 2006 exhibited previously typical patterns of mating and reproduc- tion: two annual reproductive peaks in which overwintered adults mated in the spring and young adults from a new generation mated in the fall. In 2012 and 2015, despite similar sampling effort, we detected no fall breeding activity in the study area. Reproductive behaviour under controlled laboratory conditions was also different between the earlier (2005 and 2006) and recent (2012 and 2015) years: waterbugs collected in recent years exhibited significant delays in reproduction (>30 days) under similar photoperiod and thermal conditions. We discuss potential causes of this dramatic change in reproductive behaviour, such as climate change, as well as possible negative impacts of the absence of fall reproduction on populations of B. flumineumin the study region.
Keywords
- Belostoma flumineum,
- Belostomatidae,
- phenology,
- reproduction
Disciplines
Publication Date
2018
DOI
10.1017/S0007485318000202
Citation Information
Scott Kight. "Recent changes in reproductive phenology of a K-selected aquatic insect predator, Belostoma flumineum Say (Heteroptera, Belostomatidae)" Bulletin of Entomological Research Iss. 2018 (2018) p. 1 - 6 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/scott-kight/3/
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