Date of Award:
5-1998
Document Type:
Thesis
Degree Name:
Departmental Honors
Department:
Wildland Resources
Department name when degree awarded
Forest Resources
Committee
Not Specified
Abstract
A study was conducted to determine if the proportional survival of the sexes of the grasshopper, Melanoplus sanguinipes (Orthoptera, Acrididae), differs. By stocking cages in the field with grasshoppers with different body size, sex and density combinations, proportional survival could be estimated. This study revealed that, in the absence of predation, there was a lower proportional survival when both sexes were together at high densities as compared to when they together were at low densities, and when both sexes were separate at either density. Even though females, on average, are larger than males, this study found size to be insignificant. This study also revealed that sex was not a contributing factor. One explanation for the survival declining when both sexes are together is the cost in reproduction and both sexes expend comparable energy in reproduction.
Recommended Citation
Harris, Marianne, "Sexual Differences in Survival and Competition in Grasshoppers" (1998). All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023. 9021.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/9021
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