Beschreibung: Background: Predators play a critical role in regulating larval mosquito prey populations in aquatic habitats. Understanding predator-prey responses to climate change-induced environmental perturbations may foster optimal efficacy in vector reduction. However, organisms may differentially respond to heterogeneous thermal environments, potentially destabilizing predator-prey trophic systems. Methods: Here, we explored the critical thermal limits of activity (CTLs; critical thermal-maxima [CTmax] and minima [CTmin]) of key predator-prey species. We concurrently examined CTL asynchrony of two notonectid predators (Anisops sardea and Enithares chinai) and one copepod predator (Lovenula falcifera) as well as larvae of three vector mosquito species, Aedes aegypti, Anopheles quadriannulatus and Culex pipiens, across instar stages (early, 1st; intermediate, 2nd/3rd; late, 4th). Results: Overall, predators and prey differed significantly in CTmax and CTmin. Predators generally had lower CTLs than mosquito prey, dependent on prey instar stage and species, with first instars having the lowest CTmax (lowest warm tolerance), but also the lowest CTmin (highest cold tolerance). For predators, L. falcifera exhibited the narrowest CTLs overall, with E. chinai having the widest and A. sardea intermediate CTLs, respectively. Among prey species, the global invader Ae. aegypti consistently exhibited the highest CTmax, whilst differences among CTmin were inconsistent among prey species according to instar stage. Conclusion: These results point to significant predator-prey mismatches under environmental change, potentially adversely affecting natural mosquito biocontrol given projected shifts in temperature fluctuations in the study region. The overall narrower thermal breadth of native predators relative to larval mosquito prey may reduce natural biotic resistance to pests and harmful mosquito species, with implications for population success and potentially vector capacity under global change.

Beschreibung: Resting egg production is considered the most common form of dormancy in aquatic invertebrates. Given that many taxa at least partially terminate resting egg state using environmental cues, knowledge on environmental drivers of hatching success is important, particularly within the context of climate change and environmental degradation. Fairy shrimp (anostracans) are temporary wetland specialists that are reliant on resting egg production for population persistence. Temporary wetlands are common in many arid regions projected to experience increases in temperature, and in areas often compromised by human‐mediated activities. In this study, we assessed the combined effects of light and temperature on the hatching success of Streptocephalus cafer (Anostraca) dormant eggs from temporary wetlands in an arid environment. Both temperature and light altered hatching success, with emergent effects evident. Light caused a significant threefold increase in hatching success overall, while temperature effects were non‐linear, with hatching optimised at 27°C, and especially under light conditions. These results are discussed within the context of shifting climates and disturbances to temporary wetland ecosystems.

Beschreibung: 1. Low temperatures affect insect functioning and population dynamics. Although temperate species cope with low temperatures better than their tropical counterparts, increasing temperature variability due to climate change exposes tropical species to frequent cold stress. For keystone insect species providing important ecosystem services, low-temperature tolerances, and behavioural responses remain unknown, hampering predictions under climate change. 2. The present study examined low-temperature physiology [critical thermal minima (CTmin) and chill coma recovery time (CCRT)] of six dung beetle species across three activity times: diurnal Allogymnopleurus indigaceous (Reiche) and Euoniticellus intermedius (Reiche); crepuscular Onthophagus alexis (Klug) and Onthophagus gazella (Fabricius), and; nocturnal Copris elephenor (Klug) and Scarabaeus zambezianus (Peringuey). Further, ecological service delivery (dung removal) was examined between diurnal and nocturnal species across the temperature regimes. 3. Nocturnal species had significantly greater cold tolerance than both crepuscular and diurnal species, while CCRT was significantly shortest in diurnal than both crepuscular and nocturnal species. Dung ball production between diurnal and nocturnal species interacted with temperature, with diurnal species producing significantly fewer balls at low temperatures, while nocturnal beetles were not significantly affected. In turn, nocturnal species produced significantly larger balls than the diurnal species across temperatures. Effects of temperature regime shifts were intertwined with the foraging ecology of individual species. 4. Future research should quantify species' functional responses toward different amounts of dung masses as stressful temperatures increase. 5. Results are significant for determination of species thermal ranges and predicting costs of low-temperature stress through reduced ecological services under shifting thermal environments.

Beschreibung: Temperature and dehydration stress are two major co-occurring environmental stressors threatening the physiology, biochemistry, and ecology of insects. As such, understanding adaptive responses to desiccation stress is critical for predicting climate change impacts, particularly its influence on insect invasions. Here, we assessed water balance and desiccation resistance of the invasive Tuta absoluta (Meyrick, 1917) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae), and infer how eco-physiology shapes its niche. We measured basal body water and lipid content, water loss rates (WLRs), and desiccation resistance in larvae (second to fourth instars) and adults. Body -water, -lipid, and WLRs significantly varied across life stages. Second instars recorded the lowest while fourth instars exhibited the highest body water and lipid content. Adult body water and lipid content were higher than second and third instars and lower than fourth instars while proportion of body water and lipid contents were highest in adults and second larval instars respectively. Water loss rates were significantly highest in fourth-instar larvae compared to other life stages, but differences among stages were less apparent at longer exposure durations (48 h). Desiccation resistance assays showed that second instars had greatest mortality while fourth-instar larvae and adults were the most desiccation tolerant. Our results show that T. absoluta fourth-instar larvae and adults are the most resilient developmental stages and potentially contribute most to the invasion success of the pest in arid environments. Incorporation of these species-specific eco-physiological traits in predictive models can help refine invasive species potential spread under changing climates.

Beschreibung: Highlights: • Thermal biology of rock-pool and pan specialist branchiopods were contrasted. • Wetland type was not a good predictor of branchiopod thermal preference/limits. • Spinicaudatans preferring higher temperatures than anostracans. • Spinicaudatans were more tolerant of high temperatures than anostracans. • Anostracans may be more susceptible to projected climatic warming. Abstract: Large branchiopods are specialist crustaceans adapted for life in temporary, thermally dynamic wetland ecosystems. Certain large branchiopod species are, however, restricted to specific temporary wetland types, exemplified by their physico-chemical and hydroperiod characteristics. Here, we contrasted the thermal preference and critical thermal maxima (CTmax) and minima (CTmin) of southern African anostracans and spinicaudatans found exclusively in either temporary rock-pool or pan wetland types. We hypothesized that environment of origin would be a good predictor of thermal preference and critical thermal limits. To test this, Branchiopodopsis tridens (Anostraca) and Leptestheria brevirostris (Spinicaudata) were collected from rock-pool habitats, while Streptocephalus cafer (Anostraca) and a Gondwanalimnadia sp. (Spinicaudata) were collected from pan habitats. In contrast to our hypothesis, taxonomic relatedness was a better predictor of CTmax and temperature preference than environment of origin. Spinicaudatans were significantly more tolerant of high temperatures than anostracans, with L. brevirostris and Gondwanalimnadia sp. median CTmax values of 45.1 °C and 44.1 °C, respectively, followed by S. cafer (42.8 °C) and B. tridens (41.4 °C). Neither environment or taxonomic relatedness were good predictors of CTmin trends, with B. tridens (0.9 °C) and Gondwanalimnadia sp. (2.1 °C) having the lowest median CTmin values, followed by L. brevirostris (3.4 °C) and S. cafer (3.6 °C). On the contrary, temperature preferences differed according to taxa, with spinicaudatans significantly preferring higher temperatures than anostracans. Leptestheria brevirostris and Gondwanalimnadia sp. both spent most time at temperatures 30–32 °C, S. cafer at 18–20 °C and B. tridens at 21–23 °C. Constrained thermal traits reported here suggest that the studied anostracans might be more susceptible to projected climatic warming than the spinicaudatans, irrespective of habitat type, however, these taxa may also compensate through phenotypic plasticity.

Beschreibung: Highlights: • F1 heat acclimation significantly affected S. cerealella F2 offspring CTmax. • Lower- but not higher -ramping rates significantly reduced F2 CTmax. • Both F1 fasting and heat acclimation reduced F2 offspring HKDT. • Dynamic heat acclimation significantly reduced heat tolerance of F2 offspring. Abstract: Transgenerational plasticity (TGP) is a physiological mechanism where environmental experiences of parents affect phenotypes of the offspring, and potentially facilitates organisms' survival in stressful environments. The Angouimois grain moth, Sitotroga cerealella (Olivier), is a dominant primary grain pest in Africa, particularly affecting sorghum and maize staples. Despite its widely known economic significance, little is known on its thermal responses, particularly how acclimation in one generation impacts fitness in successive generations. We tested how heat (acute and dynamic) as well as fasting acclimation in one generation affects physiological tolerance (i.e., critical thermal maxima [CTmax] and heat knock down time [HKDT]) using laboratory-reared S. cerealella populations. Specifically, we assessed whether pre-exposure to heat or fasting stress confers fitness costs or benefits in subsequent generations (i.e., through TGP). Results showed acclimation had significant effects in interaction with temperature ramping rates on CTmax. Moderate acute heat (34 °C) and dynamic temperature (28–38 °C) acclimations reduced F1 CTmax and HKDT, particularly at low ramping rates (for CTmax). We did not find fasting acclimation to significantly affect CTmax, indicating a lack of evidence for cross tolerance and/or susceptibility. For HKDT, all acclimation treatments (including fasting) showed significantly lower HKDT compared to controls, and mostly so, for the 38 °C and dynamic acclimation (28–38 °C) treatments, indicating a transgenerational fitness cost of acclimation. This is the first report of the costs of transgenerational plasticity in a stored product pest of economic significance and has implications in designing heat-based phytosanitary grain treatments.

Beschreibung: In nature, insects concurrently face multiple environmental stressors, a scenario likely increasing with climate change. Integrated stress resistance (ISR) thus often improves fitness and could drive invasiveness, but how physiological mechanisms influence invasion has lacked examination. Here, we investigated cross tolerance to abiotic stress factors which may influence range limits in the South American tomato pinworm – a global invader that is an ecologically and socially damaging crop pest. Specifically, we tested the effects of prior rapid cold- and heat-hardening (RCH and RHH), fasting and desiccation on cold and heat tolerance traits, as well as starvation and desiccation survivability between T. absoluta life stages. Acclimation effects on critical thermal minima (CTmin) and maxima (CTmax) were inconsistent, showing significantly deleterious effects of RCH on adult CTmax and CTmin and, conversely, beneficial acclimation effects of RCH on larval CTmin. While no beneficial effects of desiccation acclimation were recorded for desiccation tolerance, fasted individuals had significantly higher survival in adults, whereas fasting negatively affected larval tolerances. Furthermore, fasted and desiccation acclimated adults had significantly higher starvation tolerance, showing strong evidence for cross-tolerance. Our results show context-dependent ISR traits that may promote T. absoluta fitness and competitiveness. Given the frequent overlapping occurrence of these divergent stressors, ISR reported here may thus partly elucidate the observed rapid global spread of T. absoluta into more stressful environments than expected. This information is vital in determining the underpinnings of multi-stressor responses, which are fundamental in forecasting species responses to changing environments and management responses.

Beschreibung: Highlights: • Temperature, dung mass and beetle density affected dung utilisation services. • Dung utilisation increased significantly with temperature and density. • Largest Khepher prodigiosus exhibited highest dung utilisation among species. • Emergent effects suggest species respond differently to warming and beetle density. • Ecosystem services provision requires surveillance under global climate change. Abstract: Increases in the frequency and magnitude of suboptimal temperatures as a result of climate change are subjecting insects to unprecedented stresses. This may negatively affect their fitness and the efficiency of their ecosystem service provision. Dung beetles are ecosystem service providers: through feeding on and burying dung, they facilitate nutrient recycling, secondary seed dispersal, parasite control, soil bioturbation and dung decomposition. As such, prediction of how dung beetles respond to multiple anthropogenic environmental changes is critical for the conservation of ecosystem services. Here, we quantified ecosystem services via dung utilisation and dung ball production in three telecoprid species: Allogymnopleurus indigaceous, Scarabaeus zambezianus and Khepher prodigiosus. We examined ecosystem service efficiency factorially under different beetle densities towards different dung masses and under three temperature treatments (21 °C, 28 °C and 35 °C). Khepher prodigiosus, exhibited greatest dung utilisation efficiency overall across dung masses, compared to both S. zambezianus and A. indigaceous. Dung removal was exhibited under all the tested temperatures by all tested species, and therefore the sub-optimal temperatures employed here did not fully inhibit ecosystem service delivery. However, emergent effects among temperatures, beetle species and beetle density further affected removal efficiency: S. zambezianus and A. indigaceous utilisation increased with both warming and beetle density, whereas K. prodigiosus performance was less temperature- and density-dependent. Beetles also tended to exhibit positive density-dependence as dung supply increased. The numbers of dung balls produced differed across species, and increased with temperature and densities, with S. zambezianus producing significantly most balls overall. Our study provides novel evidence for differential density-dependent ecosystem service delivery among species across stressful temperature regimes and emergent effects for dung mass utilisation. This information is essential for biodiversity-ecosystem-function and is critical for the conservation of functionally efficacious species, with implications for natural capital conservation policy in rapidly changing environments.

Beschreibung: Highlights: • Predators regulate mosquitoes differentially in cattle dung-polluted waters. • Anisops sardea had higher interaction strength compared to Lovenula falcifera. • Interaction strength of heterospecifics was highest in highly polluted habitats. • Non-trophic interactions were predominantly antagonistic between conspecific pairs. Abstract: Anthropogenic land use changes influence ecosystem functioning and may alter trophic interactions. Intensification of free–range pastoral farming could promote degradation of aquatic habitats, with nutrient inputs adversely affecting water quality and resident communities. Reductions in natural enemies (and potentially efficacy thereof) and dampening of their interaction strength could promote the proliferation of vector mosquitoes, with consequences for disease transmission and nuisance biting. This study examined implications of a cattle dung eutrophication gradient (T0–T4: 0 g L−1, 1 g L−1, 2 g L−1, 4 g L−1 and 8 g L−1) on aquatic habitats for trophic and non–trophic interactions by two larval mosquito (Culex pipiens) natural enemies (notonectid: Anisops sardea; copepod: Lovenula falcifera) using comparative functional responses. Copepods generally exhibited lower interaction strength compared to notonectids, both as individuals and conspecific pairs. Effects of dung pollutants differed among predator groups, with high concentrations dampening interaction strengths being observed for single/paired copepods and paired notonectids, but not single notonectids or heterospecific pairs. Individual predators exhibited Type II functional responses, with feeding rates largely similar across dung concentrations within species. Non–trophic interactions were predominantly negative (i.e., antagonistic) between conspecific pairs and scaled unimodally with prey density. Dung pollution intensified negative non–trophic interactions in notonectid pairs, whereas heterospecific pairs exhibited positive (i.e., synergistic) non–trophic interactions at the highest dung concentration. Physico–chemical properties indicated that turbidity and pH increased with dung treatment concentrations, whereas conductivity and total dissolved solids both peaked at 1 g L−1 and 2 g L−1. These results improve understanding of mosquito regulation in degraded habitats, indicting effects of agricultural pollutants dampen trophic interaction strengths, depending on the taxon.

Beschreibung: Although reports have documented loss of species diversity and ecological services caused by stressful temperature changes that result from climate change, some species cope through behavioural compensation. As temperatures and magnitudes of temperature extremes increase, animals should compensate to maintain fitness (such as through temporary behavioural shifts in activity times). Appropriate timing of activity helps avoid competition across species. Although coprophagic dung beetles exhibit species‐specific temporal activity times, it is unknown whether temperature drives evolution of these species‐specific temporal activity times. Using nine dung beetle species (three each of diurnal, crepuscular, and nocturnal species), we explored differences in heat stress tolerance measured as critical thermal maxima (CTmax; the highest temperature allowing activity) and heat knockdown time (HKDT; survival time under acute heat stress) across these species, and examined the results using a phylogenetically informed approach. Our results showed that day‐active species had significantly higher CTmax (diurnal 〉 crepuscular = nocturnal species), whereas crepuscular species had higher HKDT (crepuscular 〉 nocturnal 〉 diurnal species). There was no correlation between heat tolerance and body size across species with distinct temporal activity, and no significant phylogenetic constraint for activity. Species with higher CTmax did not necessarily have higher HKDT, which indicates that species may respond differently to diverse heat tolerance metrics. Acute heat tolerance for diurnal beetles indicates that this trait may constrain activity time and, under high acute temperatures with climate change, species may shift activity times in more benign environments. These results help elucidate the evolution of foraging behaviour and management of coprophagic beetle ecosystem services under changing environments.