Department of Zoology, Entomology Laboratory, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India.
PLoS One. 2022 Jun 3;17(6):e0265664. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0265664. eCollection 2022.
A space-dependent mortality assay was performed on thirty-one short-horned adult grasshopper species (Acridoidea: Orthoptera) to estimate the space required for mass culture of acridids in captivity. Our findings show that acridids have a multidimensional mortality mode at different densities. The correlations between density and mortality of acridids in rearing units follow a sigmoidal curve. Acridid mortality significantly increases with individual numbers up to a threshold, after which mortality does not change even if the density increases further. A log-logistic sigmoidal function expresses the dose (density)-response (mortality) relationship in the majority of acridid species. Mortality of acridids at variable densities does not necessarily correspond with the body-mass of the insects, indicating that mortality is a body-mass independent event. As a ready reference, a utility chart has been prepared, providing the necessary conversion factor for estimating space for a given number of acridids. The present information will be helpful for commercial grasshopper farming in captivity.
我们对 31 种短角蝗虫成体（直翅目：蝗总科）进行了空间密度依赖死亡率测定，以评估在人工饲养条件下大规模饲养蝗虫所需的空间。我们的研究结果表明，蝗虫在不同密度下具有多维的死亡率模式。饲养单元中蝗虫的密度与死亡率之间的相关性呈 S 型曲线。在达到一个阈值之前，随着个体数量的增加，蝗虫死亡率显著增加，之后即使密度进一步增加，死亡率也不会发生变化。大多数蝗虫物种的剂量（密度）-反应（死亡率）关系都可以用对数逻辑斯谛 S 型函数来表示。在不同密度下蝗虫的死亡率不一定与昆虫的体重相关，这表明死亡率是一个与体重无关的事件。为了便于参考，我们还准备了一个实用图表，提供了给定数量的蝗虫所需的空间估算转换因子。本研究结果将有助于商业化的人工饲养蝗虫。
