- Title
- Testing the thermal limits of Eccritotarsus catarinensis: a case of thermal plasticity
- Creator
- Porter, Jordan D, Owen, Candice A, Compton, Stephen G, Coetzee, Julie A
- Subject
- To be catalogued
- Date
- 2019
- Type
- text
- Type
- article
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10962/417533
- Identifier
- vital:71461
- Identifier
- xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1080/09583157.2019.1572712"
- Description
- Water hyacinth is considered the most damaging aquatic weed in South Africa. The success of biocontrol initiatives against the weed varies nation-wide, but control remains generally unattainable in higher altitude, temperate regions. Eccritotarsus catarinensis (Hemiptera: Miridae) is a biocontrol agent of water hyacinth that was first released in South Africa in 1996. By 2011, it was established at over 30 sites across the country. These include the Kubusi River, a site with a temperate climate where agent establishment and persistence was unexpected. This study compared the critical thermal limits of the Kubusi River insect population with a laboratory-reared culture to determine whether any physiological plasticity was evident that could account for its unexpected establishment. There were no significant differences in critical thermal maxima (CTmax) or minima (CTmin) between sexes, while the effect of rate of temperature change on the thermal parameters in the experiments had a significant impact in some trials. Both CTmax and CTmin differed significantly between the two populations, with the field individuals tolerating significantly lower temperatures (CTmin: −0.3°C ± 0.063 [SE], CTmax: 42.8°C ± 0.155 [SE]) than those maintained in the laboratory (CTmin: 1.1°C ± 0.054 [SE], CTmax: 44.9°C ± 0.196 [SE]). Acclimation of each population to the environmental conditions typical of the other for a five-day period illustrated that short-term acclimation accounted for some, but not all of the variation between their lower thermal limits. This study provides evidence for the first cold-adapted strain of E. catarinensis in the field, with potential value for introduction into other colder regions where water hyacinth control is currently unattainable.
- Format
- computer, online resource, application/pdf, 1 online resource (13 pages), pdf
- Publisher
- Taylor and Francis Online
- Language
- English
- Relation
- Biocontrol Science and Technology, Porter, J.D., Owen, C.A., Compton, S.G. and Coetzee, J.A., 2019. Testing the thermal limits of Eccritotarsus catarinensis: a case of thermal plasticity. Biocontrol Science and Technology, 29(6), pp.565-577, Biocontrol Science and Technology volume 29 number 6 p. 565 2019 1360-0478
- Rights
- Publisher
- Rights
- Use of this resource is governed by the terms and conditions of the Taylor and Francis Online Terms and Conditions Statement (https://www.tandfonline.com/terms-and-conditions)
- Rights
- Closed Access
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Collections
Owen, Candice Ann (Dr)
Coetzee, Julie A (Prof)
RU DST/NRF SARChI for Insects in Sustainable Agricultural Ecosystems
RU Department of Botany
SDG 14. Life Below Water
SDG 15. Life On Land
RU Department of Zoology and Entomology
| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details | SOURCE1 | Testing the thermal limits of Eccritotarsus catarinensis.pdf | 575 KB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details |