Invasive alien pest insect species represent a major threat for agriculture and biodiversity. Because chemical treatments employed to contrast such pests elicit serious environmental and human health problems, a great...Invasive alien pest insect species represent a major threat for agriculture and biodiversity. Because chemical treatments employed to contrast such pests elicit serious environmental and human health problems, a great effort is currently directed to develop long term and environmentally friendly biological control strategies. However, the successful application of some promising techniques, such as the Sterile Insect Technique （SIT）, requires a deep knowledge of the pest basic biology. Here, we argue that understanding pest sexual biology using a social network approach can significantly improve the performance of con- trol strategies. For example, SIT may benefit from understanding how individuals interact and how males accede to reproduction, in order to target the most reproductively active and polygamic males. In this paper we studied the socio-sexual networks of the Asian red palm weevil （RPW） Rhynchophorusferrugineus, a worldwide invader which is causing heavy economic impacts on several palm species. We found that the RPW has a highly promiscuous mating system, characterized by forced interruptions of pair copulations by additional males. The social network is highly non-random nor regular： few males almost monopolize repro- duction, behaving as key-players in the network of matings. Additionally, males have a stable pattern of sexual behaviour over time. We use RPW social network as a case study to direct the development of management techniques such as SIT strategy [Current Zoology 61 （1）： 85-97, 2015].展开更多
Introduction Social life within insect societies is regulated by a sophisticated multimodal communication network.Complex blends of chemical compounds are integrated with vibrational,acoustic,and visual signals to con...Introduction Social life within insect societies is regulated by a sophisticated multimodal communication network.Complex blends of chemical compounds are integrated with vibrational,acoustic,and visual signals to control the division of labor in the colony,from colony defense to brood care(d’Ettorre and Moore 2008;Richard and Hunt 2013;Cervo et al.2015).It is no surprise that the study of communication has historically represented a fruitful area of investigation,leading to marvelous discoveries such as the complexities of the honeybee dance communication(von Frisch 1967;I’Anson Price and Gru¨ter 2015)and the sophisticated multimodal deception strategies adopted by socially parasitic species to exploit their hosts(Lenoir et al 2001;Nash and Boomsma 2008;Barbero et al.2009;Casacci et al.2021).展开更多
文摘Invasive alien pest insect species represent a major threat for agriculture and biodiversity. Because chemical treatments employed to contrast such pests elicit serious environmental and human health problems, a great effort is currently directed to develop long term and environmentally friendly biological control strategies. However, the successful application of some promising techniques, such as the Sterile Insect Technique （SIT）, requires a deep knowledge of the pest basic biology. Here, we argue that understanding pest sexual biology using a social network approach can significantly improve the performance of con- trol strategies. For example, SIT may benefit from understanding how individuals interact and how males accede to reproduction, in order to target the most reproductively active and polygamic males. In this paper we studied the socio-sexual networks of the Asian red palm weevil （RPW） Rhynchophorusferrugineus, a worldwide invader which is causing heavy economic impacts on several palm species. We found that the RPW has a highly promiscuous mating system, characterized by forced interruptions of pair copulations by additional males. The social network is highly non-random nor regular： few males almost monopolize repro- duction, behaving as key-players in the network of matings. Additionally, males have a stable pattern of sexual behaviour over time. We use RPW social network as a case study to direct the development of management techniques such as SIT strategy [Current Zoology 61 （1）： 85-97, 2015].
文摘Introduction Social life within insect societies is regulated by a sophisticated multimodal communication network.Complex blends of chemical compounds are integrated with vibrational,acoustic,and visual signals to control the division of labor in the colony,from colony defense to brood care(d’Ettorre and Moore 2008;Richard and Hunt 2013;Cervo et al.2015).It is no surprise that the study of communication has historically represented a fruitful area of investigation,leading to marvelous discoveries such as the complexities of the honeybee dance communication(von Frisch 1967;I’Anson Price and Gru¨ter 2015)and the sophisticated multimodal deception strategies adopted by socially parasitic species to exploit their hosts(Lenoir et al 2001;Nash and Boomsma 2008;Barbero et al.2009;Casacci et al.2021).
