BIOLOGY OF HYPHANTRIA CUNEA DRURY (LEPIDOPTERA : ARCTIIDAE) IN JAPAN. XVI. LARVAL BEHAVIOUR

概要

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The black-headed larvae of Hyphantria cunea form a compact aggregations and live in a nest-web during younger stage. In order to analyze the factors involved in this behaviour, experiments were carried out and the following results were obtained. The larvae tended to keep the mutual contact once established, perhaps by means of tactile stimuli. The nest-web and the silk trail which was left after migration of a colony exerted a profound influence of the movement of the young larvae. There was thus a strong tendency that the young larvae trace the silk trail of the predecessors. The silk trail seemed to provide a sign for the one-way traffic regulation, but the nature of the sign could not be elucidated. Even the 6th- and 7th-instar larvae which do not spin nest-webs and live solitarily in the field, still showed a tendency to aggregation when confined in a cage. Disintegration of aggregation in the field may be caused by repeated attacks by predators such as birds and predatory wasps. At the time of the 6th molting, the larvae sometimes congregate again on the trunk of infested trees.
日本昆虫学会の論文
1973-12-25