Insect Physiological Ecology Mechanisms and Patterns

by Chown, Steven L.; Nicolson, Sue W.

• ISBN13: 9780198515487
• ISBN10: 0198515480
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-09-30
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

This book provides a modern, synthetic overview of interactions between insects and their environments from a physiological perspective that integrates information across a range of approaches and scales. It shows that evolved physiological responses at t

Author Biography

Steven Chown is head of the Spatial, Physiological and Conservation Ecology Group in the Department of Zoology at University of Stellenbosch, South Africa. Sue Nicolson is Head of the Department of Zoology and Entomology at the University of Pretoria, South Africa

Table of Contents

Introduction	1	(13)
Physiological variation	2	(1)
How much variation?	3	(4)
Diversity at large scales: macrophysiology	7	(2)
Growing integration	9	(1)
This book	10	(4)
Nutritional physiology and ecology	14	(35)
Method and measurement	16	(2)
Artificial diets	16	(1)
Indices of food conversion efficiency	16	(1)
Use of a geometric framework	17	(1)
Physiological aspects of feeding behaviour	18	(5)
Optimal feeding in caterpillars	18	(2)
Regulation of meal size: volumetric or nutritional feedback	20	(2)
Regulation of protein and carbohydrate intake	22	(1)
Digestion and absorption of nutrients	23	(7)
Digestive enzymes and the organization of digestion	23	(3)
Gut physicochemistry of caterpillars	26	(1)
Absorption of nutrients	27	(3)
Overcoming problems with plant feeding	30	(9)
Cellulose digestion: endogenous or microbial?	30	(2)
Nitrogen as a limiting nutrient	32	(2)
Secondary plant compounds	34	(5)
Growth, development, and life history	39	(5)
Development time versus body size	39	(2)
Developmental trade-offs between body parts	41	(3)
Temperature and growth	44	(5)
Thermal effects on feeding and growth	44	(2)
Interactions with food quality	46	(3)
Metabolism and gas exchange	49	(38)
Method and measurement	50	(1)
Metabolism	51	(3)
Aerobic pathways	51	(1)
Anaerobic pathways and environmental hypoxia	52	(2)
Gas exchange structures and principles	54	(6)
Gas exchange and transport in insects	55	(2)
Gas exchange principles	57	(3)
Gas exchange and metabolic rate at rest	60	(19)
Gas exchange patterns	60	(3)
Discontinuous gas exchange cycles	63	(3)
Variation in discontinuous gas exchange cycles	66	(2)
Origin and adaptive value of the DGC	68	(5)
Metabolic rate variation: size	73	(2)
Metabolic rate variation: temperature and water availability	75	(4)
Gas exchange and metabolic rate during activity	79	(7)
Flight	80	(3)
Crawling, running, carrying	83	(2)
Feeding	85	(1)
Metabolic rate and ecology	86	(1)
Water balance physiology	87	(28)
Water loss	87	(12)
Cuticle	88	(3)
Respiration	91	(3)
Excretion	94	(5)
Water gain	99	(4)
Food	100	(1)
Drinking	101	(1)
Metabolism	102	(1)
Water vapour absorption	102	(1)
Osmoregulation	103	(4)
Haemolymph composition	103	(2)
Responses to osmotic stress	105	(2)
Salt intake	107	(1)
Desiccation resistance	107	(4)
Microclimates	108	(1)
Group effects	109	(1)
Dormancy, size, and phylogeny	109	(2)
The evidence for adaptation: Drosophila as a model	111	(4)
Lethal temperature limits	115	(39)
Method and measurement	115	(6)
Rates of change	117	(1)
Measures of thermal stress	118	(2)
Exposure and recovery time	120	(1)
Heat shock, cold shock, and rapid hardening	121	(16)
Acclimation	122	(2)
Heat shock	124	(7)
Cold shock	131	(3)
Relationships between heat and cold shock responses	134	(3)
Programmed responses to cold	137	(9)
Cold hardiness classifications	137	(2)
Freeze intolerance	139	(5)
Cryoprotective dehydration	144	(1)
Freezing tolerance	145	(1)
Large-scale patterns	146	(8)
Cold tolerance strategies: phylogeny, geography, benefits	147	(3)
The geography of upper and lower limits	150	(4)
Thermoregulation	154	(23)
Method and measurement	155	(2)
Power output and temperature	157	(3)
Behavioural regulation	160	(6)
Microhabitats and activity	161	(2)
Colour and body size	163	(2)
Evaporative cooling in ectothermic cicadas	165	(1)
Butterflies: interactions between levels	166	(3)
Variation at the phosphoglucose isomerase locus	167	(1)
Wing colour	167	(1)
The influence of predation	168	(1)
Regulation by endothermy	169	(3)
Preflight warm-up	170	(1)
Regulation of heat gain	170	(1)
Regulation of heat loss	171	(1)
Endothermy: ecological and evolutionary aspects	172	(5)
Bees: body size and foraging	173	(2)
Bees: food quality and body temperature	175	(2)
Conclusion	177	(14)
Spatial variation and its implications	177	(5)
Decoupling of upper and lower lethal limits	177	(3)
Latitudinal variation in species richness and generation time	180	(1)
Spatial extent of the data	181	(1)
Body size	182	(3)
Interactions: internal and external	185	(3)
Internal interactions	185	(1)
External interactions	186	(1)
Interactions: critical questions	187	(1)
Climate change	188	(2)
To conclude	190	(1)
References	191	(46)
Index	237