Herzner, Gudrun and Strohm, Erhard (2008) Food wrapping by females of the European Beewolf, Philanthus triangulum, retards water loss of larval provisions. PHYSIOLOGICAL ENTOMOLOGY, 33 (2). pp. 101-109. ISSN 0307-6962,
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Females of the European beewolf, Philanthus triangulum F. (Hymenoptera, Crabronidae), embalm the provisions of their larvae, paralyzed honeybees, with a secretion from a postpharyngeal gland prior to oviposition. This food wrapping is known to delay fungus infestation of the prey. In the present study, the hypothesis that the food wrapping has an additional function, namely the prevention of prey desiccation, is tested. Water loss of paralyzed but unembalmed honeybees and embalmed honeybees is measured and the composition and quantity of their cuticular hydrocarbons analyzed by coupled gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Water loss is significantly lower in embalmed compared with unembalmed bees. This might have important advantages for the larvae under the warm and dry conditions that prevail in some brood cells. The embalming by beewolf females increases the total amount of hydrocarbons on the surface of the bees by almost ten-fold. Moreover, the proportion of unsaturated and short-chained hydrocarbons is significantly increased. Unsaturated and short-chain hydrocarbons are usually less effective against water loss, so the increased protection against water loss appears to be mediated mainly by the thickness of the hydrocarbon layer.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | INSECT CUTICULAR HYDROCARBONS; POSTPHARYNGEAL GLAND; PHYSICAL-PROPERTIES; TENEBRIONID BEETLE; EPICUTICULAR WAX; SOLITARY WASP; HYMENOPTERA; SECRETION; DIAPAUSE; BEHAVIOR; crabronidae; cuticular hydrocarbons; evaporation; mass provisioning; postpharyngeal gland; prey preservation; protection against desiccation; Sphecidae |
| Subjects: | 500 Science > 590 Zoological sciences |
| Divisions: | Biology, Preclinical Medicine > Institut für Zoologie > Evolutionary Ecology (Prof. Dr. Erhard Strohm) |
| Depositing User: | Dr. Gernot Deinzer |
| Date Deposited: | 02 Nov 2020 08:15 |
| Last Modified: | 02 Nov 2020 08:15 |
| URI: | https://pred.uni-regensburg.de/id/eprint/30860 |
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