Abstract
Hibiscus harlequin bugs (Tectocoris diophthalmus) are Australian jewel bugs known for their maternal care behavior, gregariousness and warning coloration. They feed on plants in the Malvaceae family, although the nymphs will also cannibalize unguarded eggs. Here, I detail observations over 3-year period in Brisbane (QLD), mostly on cultivated Hibiscus and Malvaviscus varieties, to quantify the frequencies at which nymphs and adults occur in groups and the sizes of these groups. I also performed manipulative experiments where I placed individuals together to form groups, or to threaten females guarding a clutch of eggs, and recorded their responses. I observed that harlequin bugs repeatedly colonized a select few individual bushes in sunny locations within the study area. Egg guarding females defended against both conspecific nymphs and adult bugs placed next to the eggs, but rarely responded to the eggs being touched directly with my finger. Nymphs were far more commonly in groups than solitary, and often appeared to aggregate with non-siblings. Further, nymphs inserted into groups mostly remained there. Adults were usually solitary, and typically moved apart if placed together. I suggest that differences in the typical coloration of nymphs (shiny blue) and adults (orange) and possible dual functions as warning and camouflage might explain why nymphs are vastly more social than adult bugs.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aristizabel LF, Mannion C, Bergh C, Arthurs S (2012) Life history of pink Hibiscus Mealybug, Maconellicoccus hirsutus (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) on three Hibiscus rosa-sinensis cultivars. Fla Entomol 95:89–94
Ballard E, Holdaway FG (1926) The life history of Tectocoris lineola F., and its connection with internal boll rots in Queensland. B Entomol Res 16:329–346
Berlinger MJ (1986) Host plant resistance to Bemisia tabaci. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. 17:69–82
Bradbury JW, Vehrencamp SL, Gibson RM (1989) Dispersion of displaying male sage grouse. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 24:1–14
Brown CR, Brown MB (1986) Ectoparasitism as a cost of coloniality in cliff swallows (Hirundo pyrrhonota). Ecology 67:1206–1218
Burger J, Gochfeld M (2001) Smooth-billed ani (Crotophaga ani) predation on butterflies in Mato Grosso, Brazil: risk decreases with increased group size. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 49:482–492
Carle T, Horiwaki R, Hurlbert A, Yamawaki Y (2018) Aversive learning in the praying mantis (Tenodera aridifolia), a sit and wait predator. J Insect Behav 31:158–175
Cassis G, Vanags L (2006) Jewel bugs of Australia (Insecta, Heteroptera, Scutelleridae). Denisia 19:275–398
Clark DC, Moore AJ (1994) Social interactions and aggression among male Madagascar hissing cockroaches (Gromphadorhina portentosa) in groups (Dictyoptera: Blaberidae). J Insect Behav 7:199–215
Dodd FP (1904) Notes on maternal instinct in Rhynchota. Transactions of the Royal Entomological Society of London. 52:483–485
Dorosheva EA, Yakovlev K, Reznikova ZI (2011) An innate template for enemy recognition in wood ants. Entomol Rev 91:274–280
Fabricant SA, Kemp DJ, Krajíček J, Bosáková Z, Herberstein ME (2013) Mechanisms of color production in a highly variable shield-back stinkbug, Tectocoris diophthalmus (Heteroptera: Scutelleridae), and why it matters. PLoS One. 2013 8(5):e64082
Fabricant SA, Smith CL (2014) Is the hibiscus harlequin bug aposematic? The importance of testing multiple predators. Ecology and Evolution 4:113–120.
Fabricant SA, Exnerová A, Ježová D, Štys P (2014) Scared by shiny? The value of iridescence in aposematic signalling of the hibiscus harlequin bug. Animal Behaviour 90:315–325
Fabricant SA, Herberstein SE (2015) Hidden in plain orange: aposematic coloration is cryptic to a colorblind insect predator. Behavioral Ecology 26:38–44.
Foster WA, Treherne JE (1981) Evidence for the dilution effect in the selfish herd from fish predation on a marine insect. Nature 293:466–467
Gamberale G, Tullberg S (1996) Evidence for a peak-shift in predator generalization among aposematic prey. P Roy Soc B 263:1329–1334
Giffney RA, Kemp DJ (2014) Does it pay to care? Exploring the costs and benefits of parental care in the Hibiscus harlequin bug Tectocoris diophthalmus (Heteroptera: Scutelleridae). Ethology 120:607–615
Giffney RA, Kemp DJ (2016) Maternal care behaviour and kin discrimination in the subsocial bug Tectocoris diophthalmus (Hemiptera: Scutelleridae). Austral Entomol 55:170–176
Gilbert JDJ, Manica A (2015) The evolution of parental care in insects: a test of current hypotheses. Evolution 69:1255–1270
Hawkeswood TJ, Turner JR (2003) Observations on the Australian bug Scutiphora pedicellata (Kirby 1818) (Hemiptera: Scutelleridae) feeding on the fruits of Dodonea triquetra Wendl. (Sapindaceae). Spilopyra 6:1–4
Kennedy JS (1978) The concepts of olfactory 'arrestment' and 'attraction'. Physiological Entomology 3:91–98
Lihoreau M, Brepsoan L, Rivault C (2009) The weight of the clan: even in insects social isolation can induce a behavioural syndrome. Behav Process 82:81–84
Manners AG, Palmer WA, Burgos A, McCarthy J, Walter GH (2011) Relative host plant species use by the lantana biological control agent Aconophora compressa (Membracidae) across its native and introduced ranges. Biol Control 58:262–270
Monteith GB (1982) Dry season aggregations of insects in Australian monsoon forests. Memoirs QLD Museum 20:533–543
Monteith GB (2006) Maternal care in Australian oncomerine shield bugs (Insecta, Heteroptera, Tessaratomidae). Denisia 19:1135–1152
R Core Team (2017) R: a language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for statistical computing, Vienna. https://www.R-project.org/. Accessed 1 Dec 2018
Simpson SJ, Despland E, Hagele BF, Dodgson T (2001) Gregarious behavior in desert locusts is evoked by touching their back legs. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 98:3895–3897
Staddon BW, Thorne MJ, Knight DW (1987) The scent glands and their chemicals in the aposematic cotton harlequin bug, Tectocoris diophthalmus (Heteroptera : Scutelleridae). Aust J Zool 35:227–234
Tallamy DW, Schaefer C (1997) Maternal care in the Hemiptera: ancestry, alternatives, and current adaptive value. In: Chloe JC, Crespi BJ (eds) The evolution of social behavior in insects and arachnids. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 94–115
Tullberg BS, Gamberale-Stille G, Solbreck C (2000) Effects of food plant and group size on predator defence: differences between two co-occurring aposematic Lygaeinae bugs. Ecol Entomol 25:220–225
West MJ, Alexander RD (1963) Sub-social behavior in burrowing cricket Anurogryllis murticus (De Greer) Orthoptera: Gryllidae. Ohio J Sci 63:19–24
White TCR (1970) The nymphal stage of Cardiaspina densitexta (Homoptera: Pysillidae) on leaves of Eucalyptus fasciculosa. Aust J Zool 18:273–293
Wilson LT, Booth DR, Morton R (1983) The behavioural activity and vertical distribution of the cotton harlequin bug Tectocoris diophthalmus (Thunberg) (Heteroptera: Scutelleridae) on cotton plants in a glasshouse. Aust Entomol 22:311–317
Zeh DW, Zeh JA, Smith RL (1989) Ovipositors, amnions and eggshell architecture in the diversification of terrestrial arthropods. Q Rev Biol 64:147–168
Zink AG (2003) Quantifying the costs and benefits of parental care in female treehoppers. Behav Ecol 14:687–693
Acknowledgements
I thank Angela Jones for her help in the field and Gimme Walter for his guidance over the years.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of Interest
The author declares that he has no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Electronic supplementary material
ESM 1
(DOCX 2095 kb)
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Jones, L.C. Maternal Aggression and Juvenile Sociality in Hibiscus Harlequin Bugs. J Insect Behav 33, 116–124 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10905-020-09751-z
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10905-020-09751-z