Life cycle of the water scorpion, Laccotrephes japonensis, in Japanese rice fields and a pond
1Laboratory of Insect Ecology, Graduate School of Environmental Science, Okayama University, Tsushima, Okayama, 700-8530 Japan
2Laboratory of Insect Ecology, Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Kyoto, 606-8152, Japan
§ deceased
Abstract
A Laccotrephes japonensis (Nepidae: Heteroptera) population was studied based upon mark and recapture censuses in order to elucidate the seasonal pattern of habitat utilization in a rice paddy system including an irrigation pond between April and October, in 2006 and 2007. The seasonal pattern of nymphs and adults did not differ markedly between the rice fields and the pond. Survival rates of L. japonensis of all stages did not differ between the rice fields and the pond in 2006, but were lower in 2007 in both habitats. In 2007, however, the survival rate of L. japonensis nymphs in the pond was higher than in the rice fields. In rice fields, 36.3% of the overwintering adults were recaptured the following year. On the other hand, the recapture rate after overwintering in the pond was only 6.4%. Migration from the pond to the paddies and vice versa was observed. In summary, the rice fields and the pond may reinforce each other as reproductive and overwintering sites of L. japonensis, especially during unfavorable years.
Keywords: Conservation ecology, habitat utilization, overwintering site, predatory bug
Correspondence: aoobah8ag@yahoo.co.jp
Received: 5 March 2008 | Accepted: 3 July 2008 | Published: 10 May 2010
Copyright: This is an open access paper. We use the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license that permits unrestricted use, provided that the paper is properly attributed.
ISSN: 1536-2442 | Volume 10, Number 45
Ohba S, Goodwyn PJP. 2010. Life cycle of the water scorpion, Laccotrephes japonensis, in Japanese rice fields and a pond. 10pp. Journal of Insect Science 10:45, available online: insectscience.org/10.45
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