Flight and flight energy accumulation related to the daily rhythm of juvenile hormone titer in the wing-dimorphic cricket Velarifictorus aspersus

The cricket Velarifictorus aspersus (Walker) (Orthoptera: Gryllidae) exhibits a wing dimorphism mediating two distinct life-history strategies during early adulthood; long-winged (LW) females mainly invest resources in flight, whereas short-winged (SW) females invest more heavily in reproduction than LW females. To understand the relationships among juvenile hormone (JH), flight capacity, and energy accumulation, the daily rhythm of JH titer and flight activity, the concentrations of flight energy substances, and the influence of exogenous JH on flight activity and flight energy substances were investigated in V. aspersus. The results showed that the hemolymph JH titer exhibited a high-amplitude daily rhythm in 5-day-old LW V. aspersus females, and the JH titer rose about 10x at 18: 00 hours (6 h before lights off) and dropped to baseline levels after lights off. The females flew inactively (i.e., they floated in the air) from 14:00 to 19:00 hours during the light period, whereas they had a stronger flight capacity in the initial photophase and before lights out. The flight ability of LW females with 20 mu g mu L-1 JH treatments was significantly improved during periods of flight inactivity. After the peak JH titer, the concentrations of glycogen and trehalose in the flight muscles increased significantly. The LW females treated with JH during the inactive flight period had a significant increase in glycogen after 1 h and trehalose after 3 h. These results suggested that the high-amplitude daily rhythm of the JH titer was correlated with accumulation of flight energy substance and flight capacity; that is, an elevated JH titer promoted the biosynthesis of flight energy substances, resulting in improvement of flight capacity.

Automated summary

The cricket Velarifictorus aspersus exhibits two distinct life-history strategies during early adulthood - flight and reproduction. The daily rhythm of juvenile hormone (JH) titer is correlated with flight capacity and the accumulation of flight energy substances, suggesting that an elevated JH titer promotes the biosynthesis of flight energy substances, resulting in improvement of flight capacity.