Tarasova O. V., Kalashnikova I. I., Kuznecsova V. V. Energy Balance of Forage Consumption by Phyllophagous Insects: Optimization Model

Abstract

How to cite: Tarasova O. V., Kalashnikova I. I., Kuznecsova V. V. Energy balance of forage consumption by phyllophagous insects: optimization model // Sibirskij Lesnoj Zurnal (Siberian Journal of Forest Science). 2015. N. 3: 83–92 (in Russian with English abstract).

DOI: 10.15372/SJFS20150308

© Tarasova O. V., Kalashnikova I. I., Kuznecsova V. V., 2015

The model of optimal food consumption by phytophagous insects proposed, in which the metabolic costs are presented in the form of two components – the cost of food utilization and costs for proper metabolism of the individuals. Two measures were introduced – the «price» of food conversion and the «price» of biomass synthesis of individuals to assess the effectiveness of food consumption by caterpillars. The proposed approach to the description of food consumption by insects provides the exact solutions of the equation of energy balance of food consumption and determining the effectiveness of consumption and the risk of death of the individual. Experiments on larvae’s feeding in laboratory conditions were carried out to verify the model. Caterpillars of Aporia crataegi L. (Lepidoptera, Pieridae) were the research subjects. Supply-demand balance, calculated value of the environmental price of consumption and efficiency of food consumption for each individual were determined from experimental data. It was found that the fertility of the female does not depend on the weight of food consumed by it, but is linearly dependent on the food consumption efficiency index. The greater the efficiency of food consumption by an individual, the higher its fertility. The data obtained in the course of experiments on the feeding caterpillars Aporia crataegi were compared with the data presented in the works of other authors and counted in the proposed model of consumption. Calculations allowed estimation of the critical value of food conversion price below which the energy balance is negative and the existence of an individual is not possible.