EFFECTS OF TEMPERATURE AND AN IMMUNE RESPONSE ON THE EGG QUALITY OF TROPICAL HOUSE CRICKETS (GRYLLODES SIGILLATUS)

Abstract

Climate change is becoming a growing concern as it contributes to temperature fluctuations and increase in pathogen prevalence. Temperature fluctuations can raise an organism’s internal body temperature and alter their physiological responses. For many thermosensitive species, the smallest change in temperature can have great influence on their behavior. Similarly, pathogen exposure can alter an organism’s behavior as they are experiencing an immune response and may have to reallocate energy to increase chances of survival. To explore the relationship between climate change and pathogen exposure, tropical Gryllodes Sigillatus female crickets were exposed to temperature variations (25℃, 31℃) and lipopolysaccharides (LPS) derived from Serratia marcescens (3.5 micrograms/microliter or 5.0 micrograms/microliter). We focused on how temperature fluctuations and pathogen exposure influenced reproductive behavior. Our results revealed that a warmer temperature variation reduced egg production and protein content. While both temperature changes led to reductions in egg production and protein content, only the warmer temperature produced statistically significant decreases in both measures when compared to the control temperature. LPS treatment variations revealed no statistical significance when compared to the frozen control. Our data supports the trade-off hypothesis, showing that female crickets will reallocate resources to increase their survival at the expense of reproductive effort when under stress. This study emphasizes the complex interactions between environmental stressors and reproductive behavior in thermosensitive species and underscores the need for further research on how climate change and pathogen exposure may impact other tropical organisms behavior.