Life history strategy and egg diapause in the intertidal collembolan Anurida maritima
In: Ecological Entomology. Royal Entomological Society/Wiley: Oxford. ISSN 0307-6946; e-ISSN 1365-2311, more
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| Keywords |
Anurida maritima (Guérin-Méneville, 1836) [WoRMS]
Marine/Coastal |
| Authors | | Top |
- Witteveen, J.
- Verhoef, H.A.
- Huipen, T.E.A.M.
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| Abstract |
1 In a field survey of 1 year the intertidal collembolan Anurida maritima (Guérin) was found to be a univoltine species. Every year in early May a new generation emerges from eggs that overwinter. The first animals become adult in July. Almost all eggs laid in summer do not hatch, but undergo a period of diapause. Diapause is terminated in autumn by temperatures below 5°C. However, due to the low temperatures in winter further egg development is suppressed until spring. - 2
The adult animals die, mainly in autumn. One of the causes of mortality may be starvation. In late autumn body size decreases and glycogen and lipid content are lower. - 3
It is argued that in autumn due to low temperatures A.maritima, which forages during low tide on the open shore and seeks refuge underground before the incoming tide, is too sluggish to find food in the limited period of low water. This probably explains why this cosmopolitan species has developed a strategy to survive the winter in the temperate zone in the egg stage. |
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