Hi Andy, Although it's often assumed so, the synchronous eclosion of the silkmoths does not necessarily require an environmental cue. There is a vast amount o= f evidence in the field of biological timing that virtually all organisms hav= e endogenous clocks that can anticipate established environmental cycles. It seems plausible that the silkmoths may have evolved a clock that causes the= m to eclose in sync with mulberry flowering, which would make evolutionary sense if they depend on that as a food source. I would check the literature on studies of silkmoth circadian, seasonal, and circannual timing to see what is known. A lot of this is found in neuro- and cellular biology journals. Good luck.
Theodore Varns St. Louis, MO On 3/15/06, Axel C Ringe <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Andy, > You state the eggs have all hatched over the last 48 hours. You also > state the mulberry trees have broken buds over the past two days. Is it > possible the opening buds are releasing some volatiles that diffused > into the eggs and triggered the hatching? > > Axel Ringe > New Market, TN > > Andy Dyer wrote: > > >Hi everyone,=3D20 > > > >Silk moths are commonly used to demonstrate insect life history and a > >number of other fun traits from kindergarten classes on up. Last > >spring, I had a student with ten replicates of ten caterpillars mate and > >produce about 50 batches of eggs. In the past 48 hours, they all began > >hatching even though they were laid over the course of two weeks, the > >parents had been treated with low and high food availability, and the > >eggs had been stored for the past 10 months in the lab at room temp, > >standard humidity, and without any windows. Synchronous emergence is > >well documented in insects, but does it often carry over to the lab like > >this? Interestingly, the food source (mulberry trees) here have just > >broken buds in the last two days, so it just seems remarkable to me. > >Being a plant person with an interest in germination strategies, I > >expect there to be an environmental cue prior to the advent of any > >activity. Granted these are probably somewhat inbred lines, but in > >other organisms that show simultaneous behaviors, there is a consistent > >environmental stimulus. Because they all emerged simultaneously, I have > >to assume there was a cue even though they were maintained in an > >interior room in the building. Any suggestions? Have I ignored > >something obvious or is it just my entomological naivete? > > > >Thanks, > > > >Andy =3D20 > > > >=3D20 > > > >Andrew R. Dyer > > > >Asst. Professor of Ecology > > > >Dept. of Biology & Geology > > > >University of South Carolina Aiken > > > >471 University Parkway > > > >Aiken, SC 29801 > > > >Vox 803-641-3443 > > > >Fax 803-641-3251 > > > >[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > >=3D20 > > > > > > > > >
