Topic for your course / thesis?

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PVOzerski, 05.02.2008 23:40

In the summer, I will again go to Vyritsa (Gatchina district of the Leningrad region) to conduct an internship for students. I want to squeeze something mutualistic out of it-both for myself and for some of the students. In general, I have an idea that has nothing to do with my erect wings, but is interesting to me in theoretical terms. Here's the gist of it:

The caterpillars of the hawk moth Deilephila elpenor seem to be oligophagous, but they have a strange set of forage plants - several completely unrelated plant species (cypress, bedstraw, milkweed). Caterpillars of the hawk moth Hyles gallii - similarly, and the set is somewhat similar. So: is it possible to try to unearth the biochemical basis of such a strange food choice (to identify phagostimulants or something similar)? And is it realistic to expect that this can become the topic of a student's diploma or master's program?

In this regard, questions-who knows in case:
1) has anyone ever done similar work?
2) is it difficult to obtain glycoside preparations?
3) are there any other suitable "strange" oligophages among any phytophagous insects?
4) and are these hawk moth oligophages so narrow - maybe they are quite wide polyphages?
5) Is it difficult to find H. gallii in or around Vyritsa?
6) when (phenologically) can you find "strange oligophages" - the same H. gallii, for example?

(It is clear that a negative answer to question 2 or a long list of publications in response to question 1 make all other questions meaningless)

Comments

06.02.2008 9:47, omar

Good topic. Hawkmoth, it seems to me, is suitable for this purpose as well as possible. They are really oligophages with a diverse set of plants. The animals are big and easy to observe. It is noteworthy that the close species Deilephila porcellus eats all types of cypress, but does not accept Ivan tea. Deilephila elpenor, on the other hand, prefers it to all other types of food. I haven't heard about the development of Deilephila elpenor on milkweed, it seems that you can only feed the caterpillars when they are already large. But the bedstraw is suitable for all these species, and for Hyles gallii too. Butterflies can be collected from May to August in the light of mercury lamps, pregnant females willingly lay eggs if they are kept alive in a jar for 2-3 days. Caterpillars can be found from mid-August on forage plants, the easiest way to do this is on Willow-tea. All types should be fairly common in the Leningrad region.