Maternal hatching synchronization in a subsocial burrower bug mitigates the risk of future sibling cannibalism.

Sibling cannibalism-the killing and consumption of conspecifics within broods-carries a high risk of direct and inclusive fitness loss for parents and offspring. We reported previously that a unique vibrational behavior shown by the mother of the subsocial burrower bug, (Heteroptera: Cydnidae), induced synchronous hatching. Maternal regulation may be one of the most effective mechanisms for preventing or limiting sibling cannibalism.

Maternal vibration: an important cue for embryo hatching in a subsocial shield bug.

Hatching care has been reported for many taxonomic groups, from invertebrates to vertebrates. The sophisticated care that occurs around hatching time is expected to have an adaptive function supporting the feeble young. However, details of the characteristics of the adaptive function of hatching care remain unclear.

Trophic eggs compensate for poor offspring feeding capacity in a subsocial burrower bug.

Various animals produce inviable eggs or egg-like structures called trophic eggs, which are presumed to be an extended maternal investment for the offspring. However, there is little knowledge about the ecological or physiological constraints associated with their evolutionary origin. Trophic eggs of the seminivorous subsocial burrower bug (Canthophorus niveimarginatus) have some unique characteristics.

Pre- and post-hatch trophic egg production in the subsocial burrower bug, Canthophorus niveimarginatus (Heteroptera: Cydnidae).

In recent years, three terrestrial bugs, Adomerus triguttulus and Sehirus cinctus (Cydnidae) and the closely related Parastrachia japonensis (Parastrachiidae), have been the focus of several fascinating studies because of the remarkable, extensive parental care they were found to display. This care includes egg and nymph guarding, production of trophic eggs, unfertilized, low cost eggs that are used as food by newly hatched nymphs, and progressive provisioning of the host seed. In this study, we have investigated yet a third related Asian cydnid, Canthophorus niveimarginatus, with regard to the possible occurrence of some or all of these complex traits in order to assess how widespread these maternal investment patterns are in this group of insects and to better understand the implications of their manifestations from an evolutionary context.

Canopy compass in nocturnal homing of the subsocial shield bug, Parastrachia japonensis (Heteroptera: Parastrachiidae).

In contrast to an open environment where a specific celestial cue is predominantly used, visual contrast of canopies against the sky through the gap, known as canopy cues, is known to play a major role for visually guided insect navigators in woodland habitats. In this paper, we investigated whether a subsocial shield bug, Parastrachia japonensis, could gauge direction using canopy cues on a moonless night. The results show that they could perform the round trip foraging behaviour even in an experimental arena with only an artificial round gap opened in the ceiling of the arena and adjust their homing direction for a new azimuth when the gap was rotated.

Round-the-clock homing behavior of a subsocial shield bug, Parastrachia japonensis (Heteroptera: Parastrachiidae), using path integration.

Females of the subsocial shield bug, Parastrachia japonensis (Parastrachiidae), are central-place foragers, collecting drupes for their young from nearby host trees by walking along the forest floor both during the day and at night. Because burrows are often some distance from the drupe-shedding tree, the bugs must repeatedly leave their burrows, search for drupes, and return to the burrows. After a bug leaves its burrow, it searches arduously until it encounters a drupe.