Maternal Aggression and Juvenile Sociality in Hibiscus Harlequin Bugs
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Maternal Aggression and Juvenile Sociality in Hibiscus Harlequin Bugs Lachlan C. Jones
Received: 11 September 2019 / Revised: 18 July 2020 / Accepted: 30 July 2020 # Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Hibiscus harlequin bugs (Tectocoris diophthalmus) are Australian jewel bugs known for their maternal care behavior, gregariousness and warning coloration. They feed on plants in the Malvaceae family, although the nymphs will also cannibalize unguarded eggs. Here, I detail observations over 3-year period in Brisbane (QLD), mostly on cultivated Hibiscus and Malvaviscus varieties, to quantify the frequencies at which nymphs and adults occur in groups and the sizes of these groups. I also performed manipulative experiments where I placed individuals together to form groups, or to threaten females guarding a clutch of eggs, and recorded their responses. I observed that harlequin bugs repeatedly colonized a select few individual bushes in sunny locations within the study area. Egg guarding females defended against both conspecific nymphs and adult bugs placed next to the eggs, but rarely responded to the eggs being touched directly with my finger. Nymphs were far more commonly in groups than solitary, and often appeared to aggregate with non-siblings. Further, nymphs inserted into groups mostly remained there. Adults were usually solitary, and typically moved apart if placed together. I suggest that differences in the typical coloration of nymphs (shiny blue) and adults
Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s10905-020-09751-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. L. C. Jones (*) School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane 4072, Australia e-mail: [email protected]
(orange) and possible dual functions as warning and camouflage might explain why nymphs are vastly more social than adult bugs. Keywords Tectocoris diophthalmus . parental care . group . cultivar . sunlight . eggs
Introduction Social behavior can confer various advantages and disadvantages to group members. Predation risk, for example, may be lower for individuals in groups through the dilution effect (Foster and Treherne 1981; Burger and Gochfeld 2001) or by more prominently displaying warning colors (Tullberg et al. 2000). Conversely, disadvantages to groups may include greater exposure to disease or parasites (Brown and Brown 1986), or aggression from other individuals (Clark and Moore 1994). Groups may also form through a tendency of individuals to aggregate in favorable locations without necessarily gaining a direct benefit from proximity to others (Bradbury et al. 1989). The relative advantages of social and solitary behavior can vary over the lifespan of an individual. Locusts are a prime example of this, switching between solitary and gregarious behavioral states depending on density (Simpson et al. 2001). Furthermore, insects of a gregarious species reared in isolation can in
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