Main Article Content

Abstract

Observations were made on the body mass; transpiration rate; assimilation efficiency; gross and net production efficiencies; feeding, assimilation, conversion and metabolic rates of the pillbug Armadillo officinalis Dumeril acclimatized at 14º  and 21 °C for 15 days and fed on the dry leaf of Punica granatum (Pomegranate).  A brief description is given on the chemical composition of P. granatum leaf.  The difference in body mass increments of A. officinalis between the acclimatized temperatures was not significant (t = 1.09; p>0.05).  However, significant differences were discernible on the transpiration rate (t = 9.53; p<0.01), moisture (t = 9.01; p<0.01), assimilation efficiency (t = 5.16; p<0.01), feeding (t = 3.76; p<0.05) and conversion (t = 2.58; p<0.05)  rates between the woodlice acclimatized at 14º and 21 °C.  Better feeding of    P. granatum leaf by these animals was observed at 21° C, but better assimilation efficiency at 14 °C.  Only 3.21% assimilated food at 14° C and 6.30% at 21 °C were converted into the production of new tissues.  The food consumption of A. officinalis at 14º and 21° C was 2.05% and 3.79% body mass/day respectively.  The effect of temperature on the activity of A. officinalis in the field is discussed.

             

 

Keywords

Armadillo officinalis Punica granatum transpiration body mass feeding and assimilation.

Article Details

References

  1. AL-JETLAWI, A.A. and NAIR, G.A. 1994. Breeding and population biology of Armadillo officinalis (sopoda: Oniscidea) in Benghazi,Libya. J. Arid Envts., 27: 241-255.
  2. BEAMENT, J.W.L. 1961. The water relations of the insect cuticle. Biol. Rev., 36: 281-320.
  3. CLOUDSLEY-THOMPSON, J.L. 1969. Acclimation, water and temperature relations of the woodlouse Metoponorthus pruinosus and Periscyphis jannonei in the Sudan. J. Zool., 158: 267-276.
  4. CLOUDSLEY-THOMPSON, J.L. 1977. The Water and Temperature Relations of Woodlice. Meadowfield
  5. Press, Durham
  6. DUKE, J.A. 1992. Handbook of Phytochemical Constituents of GRAS Herbs and other Economic Plants. CRC Press, Ann Arbor, U.S.A.
  7. EDNEY, E.B. 1951. The evaporation of water from the woodlice and the millipede Glomeris. J. Exp. Biol., 28: 91-115.
  8. EDNEY, E.B. 1968. Transition from water to land in isopod crustaceans. Am. Zoologist, 8: 309-326.
  9. GRIMM, L.G. 1993. Statistical Applications for the Behavioral Sciences .John Wiley & Sons, New York.
  10. KHEIRALLAH, A.M. 1980. Aspects of the distribution and community structure of isopods in the Mediterranean coastal deserts of Egypt. J. Arid Envts., 3: 69-74.
  11. NAIR, G.A. and AL-JETLAWI, A.A. 1993. Observations on the relation of body dimensions and the ecological factors of the soil influencing the abundance of the pillbug Armadillo officinalis Dumeril 1816 (Isopoda, Oniscidea) in Benghazi, Libya. J. Animal Morph. Physiol., 40: 61-71.
  12. NAIR, G.A., BENNOUR, S.A., EL-AMMARI, N.E. and CHOWDHURY, K. 2002. Food preference and breakdown of Citrus limonia and Punica granatum dry leaves by Armadillo officinalis Dumeril, 1816 and Porcellio scaber Latreille, 1804 (Isopoda, Oniscidea) in Benghazi, Libya. Ecol. Env. & Consv., 8(3): 223-226.
  13. NAIR, G. A. and FADIEL, M.M. 1991. The feeding and conversion of leaf litter by the pillbug Armadillo officinalis (Isopoda, Oniscidea). Arid Soil Res. & Rehab., 5:167-174.
  14. NAIR, G.A., FADIEL, M.M. and MOHAMED, A.I. 1989. Effects of temperature on transpiration, behavior, growth and feeding habits of Armadillo officinalis (Isopoda, Oniscidea) in Benghazi, Libya. J. Arid. Envts., 17: 49-55.
  15. NAIR, G.A., MOHAMED, A.I. and BHUYAN, K.C. 2001. Thermobiology of Armadillo officinalis and Hemilepistus reaumuri (Isopoda: Oniscidea) in Benghazi, Libya. In: Ecology of Desert Environments. ed. Ishwar Prakash, Scientific Publishers, Jodhpur, India.
  16. NAIR, G.A. and NAIR, N.B. 1985. Transpiration rates and acclimatigation to water and temperature of the tropical woodlice Porcellionides puinosus Brandt and Porcellio laevis Latreille. Proc. Indian Acad. Sci., 94(5): 469-474.
  17. WALLWORK, J.A. 1970. Ecology of Soil Animals. McGraw Hill, London.
  18. WARBURG, M.R. 1965. Water relations and internal body temperature of isopods from mesic to xeric habitats. Physiol. Zool., 38: 99-109.
  19. WARBURG, M.R. 1987. Isopods and their terrestrial environments. Adv. Ecol. Res., 17: 187-242.
  20. WARBURG, M.R., LINSERMAIR, K.E. and BERKOVITZ, K. 1984. The effect of climate on the distribution and abundance of isopods. Symp. Zool. Soc. London, 53: 339-367.