Search results for "Mealworm"
showing 10 items of 20 documents
Courtship, Mating, and Sex Pheromones in the Mealworm Beetle (Tenebrio molitor)
2003
Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on courtship and mating in a coleopteran, the yellow mealworm beetle (Tenebrio molitor), observation and description of the behavior of (relatively) undisturbed animals, and the response of male Tenebrio molitor to the female sex attractant pheromone. Pheromones used in communication between members of the opposite sex in a mating context are collectively termed sex pheromones. In many insect species, detection of a sex pheromone is often sufficient to initiate the species-typical courtship and mating behaviors, although the release of these behaviors can be modified by visual, tactile, acoustic, or other types of stimuli. For example, upon detecting a…
Chemosensory cues allow male Tenebrio molitor beetles to assess the reproductive status of potential mates
2004
Males of many insect species, including beetles, choose their mates according to their reproductive status. However, the ways in which male beetles evaluate female reproductive status have received little attention. We tested the existence of male mate choice in the mealworm beetle, Tenebrio molitor, by observing mating and courtship behaviour of males given simultaneous access to pairs of females differing in their reproductive status: (1) mature versus immature; (2) virgin versus previously mated; (3) familiar (mated with the experimental male) versus unfamiliar (mated with a different male). Males courted and mated preferentially with mature and virgin females. To determine whether chemi…
Morphogenesis of the wing Anlagen in the mealworm beetle tenebrio molitor during the last larval instar.
1990
The wing Anlagen of Tenebrio develop from epidermal cells located on the lateral margins of meso- and metathoraces. Three to four days after larval ecdysis, these cells start to proliferate slowly, continuing to do so until day 13 which corresponds to the period of the pupal commitment of the remaining epidermis. The wing Anlagen cells then proliferate rapidly until day 18.5. Three days before pupal ecdysis, the mitotic index falls suddenly while 40% of the Anlagen cells disappear owing to cell degeneration. The sudden changes observed in the mitotic index are correlated with two hemolymphatic peaks in ecdysteroid levels. Anlagen of the forewings and hindwings show similar development excep…
Cloning of Two Putative Ecdysteroid Receptor Isoforms from Tenebrio Molitor and their Developmental Expression in the Epidermis during Metamorphosis
1997
Using the Drosophila EcR-B1 cDNA as a probe, we have cloned the putative ecdysteroid receptor from the mealworm Tenebrio molitor. We have isolated two cDNAs with different 5' termini that contain a complete open reading frame. These two cDNAs encode two proteins with distinct N-terminal regions corresponding to two isoforms. The coleopteran receptor is obviously related to the ecdysteroid receptor of other insects, but shares only 89% and 61% amino acid identities with the DNA-binding and ligand-binding domains of the Drosophila receptor, respectively. Its expression pattern has been examined in the epidermis during the last larval instar and pupal stage of T. molitor, in correlation with t…
European perch (Perca fluviatilis) fed dietary insect meal (Tenebrio molitor): From a stable isotope perspective
2021
Abstract Stable isotope analysis was conducted to investigate stable isotope ratios of carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N), diet-tissue discrimination factors of carbon (Δ13C) and nitrogen (Δ15Ν). Bayesian mixing models were performed to assess relative contribution of insect meal and other ingredients to the development of tissues of European perch (Perca fluviatilis). Accordingly, four experimental formulations, characterized by the increasing inclusion levels of yellow mealworm (Tenebrio molitor) larvae meal (TM) at 0, 6.8, 13.5 and 20.3% as replacement for fishmeal at 0 (TM0), 25 (TM25), 50 (TM50) and 75% (TM75), respectively, were fed to juvenile perch (initial bodyweight, 20.81 ± 3.36 g…
Temporal patterns in immune responses to a range of microbial insults (Tenebrio molitor).
2008
8 pages; International audience; Much work has elucidated the pathways and mechanisms involved in the production of insect immune effector systems. However, the temporal nature of these responses with respect to different immune insults is less well understood. This study investigated the magnitude and temporal variation in phenoloxidase and antimicrobial activity in the mealworm beetle Tenebrio molitor in response to a number of different synthetic and real immune elicitors. We found that antimicrobial activity in haemolymph increased rapidly during the first 48h after a challenge and was maintained at high levels for at least 14 days. There was no difference in the magnitude of responses …
Protein synthesis in developing ovaries of mealworm under in vivo and in vitro conditions: Effects of diflubenzuron
1996
Abstract The effect of diflubenzuron (DFB) on protein synthesis in the ovaries of Tenebrio molitor was evaluated during oocyte maturation using in vivo and in vitro assays. When incorporated into the diet (5 and 10 mg g −1 ), DFB was found to affect both the weight, the protein levels and the incorporation of tritiated leucine into proteins of ovaries. In addition, electrophoretic separation of ovarian proteins by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide slab gels (SDS-PAGE) showed that DFB applied in vivo did not have a significant effect on the number of protein bands. When added to the culture medium (5 and 10 μg ml −1 ), DFB resulted in a slight but significant decrease in the rate of inco…
A monoclonal antibody against an adult-specific cuticular protein of Tenebrio molitor (Insecta, Coleoptera)
1989
International audience; To study the sequential expression of the epidermal program in the mealworm Tenebrio molitor, monoclonal antibodies were prepared against the water-soluble proteins from preecdysial adult cuticle. Among the 16 clones obtained, one of them (named K2F6) recognized a 20-kDa antigen, found only in adult extracts but not in the larval or pupal ones, as revealed by immunoblot analysis. Our results strongly suggest an epidermal origin for this protein. The monoclonal antibody K2F6 fails to react with water-soluble proteins from fat body and hemolymph taken during the deposition of the 20-kDa antigen. Electron microscopic immunogold localization of this antigen showed that i…
Lipid Metabolism during the Sexual Maturation of the Mealworm (Tenebrio molitor): Effect of Ingested Diflubenzuron
1997
Abstract Diflubenzuron (DFB), a benzoylphenylurea derivative, when fed to adult females of Tenebrio molitor during sexual maturation (i.e., from adult ?? to day 9), was found to accumulate in the fat body and to quantitatively and qualitatively affect lipid synthesis. DFB treatment decreased the overall lipid level in the fat body and caused perturbations in both the rate of incorporation and distribution of radiolabeled oleic acid in the different classes of lipids. Compared to untreated controls, a significant increase in the level of saturated fatty acids and a significant decrease in the level of unsaturated fatty acids were observed in the fat body. In the ovaries, the fatty acid compo…
Quantity Estimation Based on Numerical Cues in the Mealworm Beetle (Tenebrio molitor)
2012
In this study, we used a biologically relevant experimental procedure to ask whether mealworm beetles (Tenebrio molitor) are spontaneously capable of assessing quantities based on numerical cues. Like other insect species, mealworm beetles adjust their reproductive behavior (i.e., investment in mate guarding) according to the perceived risk of sperm competition (i.e., probability that a female will mate with another male). To test whether males have the ability to estimate numerosity based on numerical cues, we staged matings between virgin females and virgin males in which we varied the number of rival males the experimental male had access to immediately preceding mating as a cue to sperm…