Searching Behavior for Pupation Place by Late Second Instar Larvae of Scirtothrips dorsalis Hood (Thysanoptera: Thripidae)

Abstract

The late second instar larvae of Scirtothrips dorsalis Hood Moved from the upper leaves of tea bush to the ground for pupation by crawling or falling. The falling behavior which was specific to these larvae was never observed during the first to early second larval period. It did not appear to be related to morphological or functional changes of the tarsal bladders, but could be regarded as an intentional behavior aimed at searching for a suitable place to pupate. The fall was selected when crawling was hampered. On the basis of the laboratory observations, the pupation place was usually a humid and dusky crack or space. In the tea fields, most of the mature larvae pupated in old leaves bound by the larvae of tea tortrixes, dead leaves hanging from the tea bush, cracks on the bark, moss and lichen on the tree trunk and leaf litter, whose amounts vary with the conditions of cultivation of tea. © 1981, JAPANESE SOCIETY OF APPLIED ENTOMOLOGY AND ZOOLOGY. All rights reserved.