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Vol. 49 No. 1, 2010
Variations in the Pit Size of Cueta sauteri (Neuroptera: Myrmeleontidae) Larvae in Response to Past Pit-Building Experience and Food Limitation
Shih-Hsiung Liang1, Wan-Yu Lin1, Yi-Ching Lin2, Yi-Chih Chen1, and Bao-Sen Shieh3,*
1Department
of Biotechnology, National Kaohsiung Normal University, 62 Sanchung
Rd., Yanchao Township, Kaohsiung County 824, Taiwan
2Department of Life Science, Tunghai University, 181 Taichung Harbor Road, Sec. 3, Taichung 407, Taiwan
3Department
of Biomedical Science and Environmental Biology, Kaohsiung Medical
University, 100 Shihchuan 1st Road, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan
Shih-Hsiung Liang, Wan-Yu Lin, Yi-Ching Lin, Yi-Chih Chen, and Bao-Sen Shieh (2010) Few
studies on antlion species of Taiwan have been conducted to examine the
pit structure of antlion larvae and their pit building responses to
food limitations. Pitbuilding antlions may respond to food
limitations by relocating their pits or altering their established
pits. The present study attempted to describe pit structures
built in the field and in captivity by the larvae of Cueta sauteri,
an antlion species distributed in a prey-poor badland area of southern
Taiwan, and compare pit sizes of fed and unfed antlions under different
past pit-building experiences in a situation with restrictions on pit
relocation. Cueta sauteri
larvae exhibited similar pit-building behaviors and pit structures in
both the field and laboratory. By controlling relocation and
preventing pit building, the results of the present study indicated
that both food limitations and past pit-building experience affected
pit sizes of C. sauteri
larvae. In a comparison between fed and unfed larvae,
free-building larvae displayed no differences in pit sizes during 32 d
of observation, while size differences were significant in those
previously not free-building antlions after 22 d. We suggest that
C. sauteri, a badland species, is more tolerant of food limitations than other antlion species found in prey-rich habitats.
Key words: Antlion, Cueta sauteri, Pit size, Myrmeleontidae, Food limitation.
*Correspondence: Tel: 886-7-3121101 ext. 2703. Fax: 886-7-3227508. E-mail:bsshieh@kmu.edu.tw
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