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1 April 2003 The Directional Homing Behaviour of the Subsocial Shield Bug, Parastrachia japonensis (Heteroptera: Cydnidae), under Different Photic Conditions
Mantaro Hironaka, Sintaro Nomakuchi, Lisa Filippi, Sumio Tojo, Hiroko Horiguchi, Takahiko Hariyama
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

The female subsocial shield bug, Parastrachia japonensis, provisions its nymphs by foraging on the ground in the forest during the Japanese rainy season, and the bug uses homing navigation to drag a drupe back to its burrow by the shortest route during the day. To study whether or not this bug performs this provisioning behaviour under different photic conditions, we observed the homing behaviour and homing direction of bugs in the field around the clock and/or under various weather conditions. The bugs foraged the whole day during the busiest provisioning period, and the number of walking bugs was not affected by the different weather conditions. Such navigational behaviour, regardless of the time of the day and the weather conditions, is rare in insect navigation. To test whether the bug uses visual cues, we covered the compound eyes and ocelli with opaque or clear paint just before homing began. During the day and at night, and in all weather conditions, the homing direction of blind bugs, but not those with clear-painted eyes was disoriented, indicating that this species uses visual cues dominantly under all photic conditions.

Mantaro Hironaka, Sintaro Nomakuchi, Lisa Filippi, Sumio Tojo, Hiroko Horiguchi, and Takahiko Hariyama "The Directional Homing Behaviour of the Subsocial Shield Bug, Parastrachia japonensis (Heteroptera: Cydnidae), under Different Photic Conditions," Zoological Science 20(4), 423-428, (1 April 2003). https://doi.org/10.2108/zsj.20.423
Received: 12 November 2002; Accepted: 1 January 2003; Published: 1 April 2003
KEYWORDS
Heteroptera
homing
navigation
orientation
visual cue
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