Abstract page
Variation in temperature can have an extremely overwhelming effect on the body function and physiological process that also include performance on many ectotherms like Acheta domesticus. Most of these insects often appear to be sensitive to this seemingly symbiotic relationship to escape the various dangers that lurk around in their habitats. For Achata domesticus, lower body temperatures might mean a more restricted movement than when at temperatures that are high. With the aim to understand the difference in locomotive behavior of A.domesticus to variation in the levels of temperature, an experiment was carried out on a specimen of 10-crickets, separating the smaller ones from, the bigger ones. Temperatures were then varied between 4o C and 30o C. As the temperature levels increased to 30oC, the distance covered by the crickets increased as well during the first trial. The same trend was observed in the second experiment with different sizes of the specimen. The influence that temperature differential on the species had on locomotion might help in explaining the high levels of preference for the A. domesticus species towards locations with high temperature. At a lower temperature level, the crickets may gain immensely due to the decrease in the metabolic rate hence assist in maintaining lower body temperatures.
The Effect of Temperature on Acheta Domesticus' Movement
Discussion
Allen et al.,( 2012) demonstrated that Acheta domesticus have evolved from a varied ecological habitat with distinctive characteristics. Therefore, they have adapted to these environments but with a higher affinity to the hotter temperament areas of the tropics and the deserts. Moreover, when experimented on a varied thermal gradient in the laboratories, the Acheta domesticus showed a higher motional preference for temperatures that were almost at 30o C. The results presented from the experiments carried out in this paper might help to explain the reasons why A. Domesticus move faster and farther in a hotter environment than the slow response recorded when the temperatures are cold. The influence that body temperatures has on the motion functionality of the crickets forms the most robust of findings from the scientific research study that this paper had intended to undertake, as it is demonstrated uniformity of the results from the two trials (Lee, 2009). Temperature seems to have a very intense effect on the locomotive level of the A. Domesticus as evidenced by the larger size of the gaps between the distances of a warmer temperature trial (30o C) and a cold temperature trial (4o C).
Locomotive Activities at Low Temperatures (4o C)
At lower levels of temperature, the A, Domesticus loses most of its ability and the power to coordinate its movements, mostly at extreme temperatures that ranging from 0o to 4o C. The bare minimum temperatures do not align well with the habitat temperature characteristics of most A. Domesticus who thrive well at relatively higher temperatures, mostly warmer in the warmer parts of the world like the areas in the tropics and around the equator. It is therefore not surprising that the A. Domesticus have higher thermal thresholds that can stimulate high activity levels in temperatures that range from 30o c and in lower temperature of between 0o and 15o C. In the study, the movement’s analysis of the 10 samples of Acheta Domesticus indicated that the insects moved in a harmonized manner at an average distance of 485.1mm in 2 minutes for the low temperatures of 4o C. The distances achieved were uniform despite the fact that the crickets were separated according to their sizes.
In the two set of trials, at the temperatures of 4o C, the observation made by the movement of the specimen revealed that there was a tendency for the crickets to stop movement or congregate when the temperatures started to cool down hence reducing flow or come to a stop. Crickets are known to come closer together when in the fields though chirping and observation made through studies reveal that the tendency is higher during the cold seasons when the insects are in hibernation mode and their activities are most dormant (Lee, 2009). Researchers observe that as a result of the cold temperatures and the reduced spacing due to the congregation of the crickets in one area, the behavior on the restriction of movement buffers the A. Domesticus from the effects of low levels of temperatures and therefore also safeguard them against dehydration. The Cause of the behavior at such lower temperatures may be as a result of their comparatively lower and restricted mobility functionality.
Locomotive Activities at High Temperatures (30o C)
Observation by Deutsch et al. (2012) indicates that varying the distance farther from the equator for the Acheta Domesticus species highly decreases the thermal sensitivity in their body temperatures. Various studies have shown that for most tropical insects like Acheta Domesticus, have a higher affinity towards higher temperatures and, therefore, their functionality increases a lot, including movement, sound chirping and mating. From the results, both trials, despite of the size of the specimens in the trials, posted a relatively high movement averaging 721.5mm at temperatures recordings of 30o C. A critical and vital explanation of the terms of this extensive energy arise from the fact that the metabolically processes with the bodies of the insects are activated through the high temperatures (Forsman, 1999: Lee, 2009). For instance, a single reactivation of the biochemical reactions within the body as a result of the high temperatures increases the energies required for the complex processes such as movements.
With a lower temperature, the processes of biochemical reactions within the body lie dormant and unutilized therefore the low rates of activity within the animals. Several studies concerning the activities of ectotherms, in which Acheta Domesticus fall under, have looked into the responses to variation in the level of thermal acclimation in the species albeit with a mixture of results (Booth & Kiddell, 2007). In this study, the acclimation response due to higher temperatures in A. domesticus was observed to respond positively towards acclimation temperatures. Evidence that supports the observed results is geared towards the variation in metabolism process that arises as a consequence of the temperature at 40o C.
Conclusion
In conclusion, our study found the evidence to support the assertion that there is a correlation between the motion levels and the temperature levels within A. domesticus. The studies have expanded on the results of the other studies by Forsman, (1999) and Booth & Kiddell, (2007) on the same subject to indicate that A. domesticus are incapable of adapting relatively in colder environments. The insects show lower activity levels at temperatures that are lower than their ecological habitats while at the other end they indicate that their mobility is highly dependent on higher temperatures within their surroundings. By suppressing their activity level through varying the levels of temperature, the crickets have the chance to utilize their metabolism within high conditions which is proved by their attempted to move even if the distance is not what is expected of them. This, therefore, indicates that the crickets contain in them a window of thermal activity relatively comparable to those of other insects that inhabit colder areas, despite the fact that they have limited plasticity at lower levels of temperature. Furthermore, the observations made from this study takes into consideration the ability of the crickets to tolerate changes in climatic conditions in the future as a result of global warming.
References
Allen, B. J., Rodgers, B., Tuan, Y., & Levinton, J. S. (2012). Size-dependent temperature and desiccation limitations on performance capacity: Implications for sexual selection in a fiddler crab. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology & Ecology, 438, 93-99. doi:10.1016/j.jembe.2012.09.009
Booth, D. T., & Kiddell, K. (2007). Temperature and the energetic of development in the house cricket (Acheta domesticus). Journal of Insect Physiology, 53(9), 950-953. doi:10.1016/j.jinsphys.2007.03.009
Forsman, A. (1999). Variation in thermal sensitivity of performance among color morphs of a pygmy grasshopper. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 12(5), 869-878. doi:10.1046/j.1423-9101.1999.00084.x
Lee, R. E. (2009). Principles of Insect Low-Temperature Tolerance. Insects at Low Temperature, 17-46. doi:10.1007/978-1-4757-0190-6_2
