›› 2013, Vol. 56 ›› Issue (6): 622-629.

• RESEARCH PAPERS • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Effects of application of juvenile hormone and precocene on physiological trade-offs between flight muscle and reproductive development in the wing dimorphic cricket Velarifictorus ornatus (Orthoptera: Gryllidae)(In English)

ZHAO Lü-Quan, ZHU Dao-Hong*   

  1. (Laboratory of Insect Behavior and Evolutionary Ecology, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Changsha 410004, China)
  • Online:2013-06-20 Published:2013-06-20

Abstract: In order to understand the endocrine control mechanism of physiological trade-offs between flight muscle and reproductive development, the effects of application of juvenile hormone III (JH-III) and precocene I (P-I) on flight muscles and reproductive development were examined in the wing dimorphic cricket Velarifictorus ornatus. The results indicated that  at 7 d after the JH-III and P-I were injected into the test adults on the day of their emergence, the application of juvenile hormone promoted ovarian development in long-winged female V. ornatus. The weight of ovaries of crickets injected with 1, 5, 10 and  25 μg JH-III were 43.9±10.7, 33.6±14.0, 56.8±7.6 and 39.3±30.7 mg/♀, respectively, which were significantly heavier than that of the control group. The application of juvenile hormone stimulated ovarian development but did not affect the number of eggs in the ovary of long winged females significantly. On the contrary, the application of JH-III stimulated the degradation of flight muscles. The weight of flight muscles of crickets treated with 1, 5 and 10 μg JH-III decreased to 12.9±4.7, 11.7±4.8 and 8.8±0.8 mg/♀, respectively, which was lighter than that of the control group. Injection of P-I restrained the ovarian development of short-winged female V. ornatus when the dosage was over 50 μg, but had no effect when the dosage was lower. There was no difference in the development of the testes, accessory glands, and flight muscles of long-winged males injected with acetone and juvenile hormone. Injection of P-I did not influence the development of the testes, accessory glands, and flight muscles of the short-winged males. Therefore, hormonal control of flight muscles and reproductive organ development appears to differ between female and male wing dimorphic crickets.

Key words: Velarifictorus ornatus, wing dimorphism, physiological trade-offs, juvenile hormone, precocene, reproductive development, flight muscles