Ajayi Olufemi S, Appel Arthur G, Chen Li, Fadamiro Henry Y
Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA.
Department of Bioinformatics, College of Life Science, Institute of Life Science and Green Development, Hebei University, Baoding 071002, China.
Insects. 2020 Jul 5;11(7):418. doi: 10.3390/insects11070418.
The high surface area to volume ratio of terrestrial insects makes them highly susceptible to desiccation mainly through the cuticle. Cuticular permeability (CP) is usually the most important factor limiting water loss in terrestrial insects. Water loss rate, percentage of total body water (%TBW) content, CP, and desiccation tolerance were investigated in workers of four species in the southeastern USA. We hypothesized that tropical/subtropical ants (. and . ) will have lower CP values and tolerate higher levels of desiccation than temperate ants (. and × . ). The %TBW content was similar among species. had a 1.3-fold and 1.1-fold lower CP value than × and , respectively. had a 1.3-fold lower CP value than . × . , and a 1.2-fold lower CP value than . . The LT values (lethal time to kill 50% of the population) ranged from 1.5 h (small ) to 8.5 h (large ). Desiccation tolerance ranged between 36 and 50 %TBW lost at death and was not related to a species' location of origin. This study is the first report of water relations of × . It demonstrates that desiccation stress differentially can affect the survival of different species and implies that environmental stress can affect the distribution of these species in the southeastern USA.
陆生昆虫的高表面积与体积比使它们极易通过角质层发生脱水。角质层通透性（CP）通常是限制陆生昆虫水分流失的最重要因素。我们对美国东南部四种蚂蚁工蚁的失水率、总体含水量百分比（%TBW）、CP和耐干燥能力进行了研究。我们假设热带/亚热带蚂蚁（[具体物种1]和[具体物种2]）的CP值会低于温带蚂蚁（[具体物种3]和[具体物种4]），并且能耐受更高程度的干燥。各物种间的%TBW含量相似。[具体物种1]的CP值分别比[具体物种4]和[具体物种3]低1.3倍和1.1倍。[具体物种2]的CP值比[具体物种4]低1.3倍，比[具体物种3]低1.2倍。致死时间值（杀死50%种群的致死时间）范围从1.5小时（小型[具体物种1]）到8.5小时（大型[具体物种1]）。耐干燥能力在死亡时失去的%TBW为36%至50%之间，且与物种的起源地无关。本研究是关于[具体物种4]水分关系的首次报告。它表明干燥胁迫对不同[具体物种1]的存活影响存在差异，并意味着环境胁迫会影响这些物种在美国东南部的分布。
