Exploring the role of avian predators in driving long-distance insect dispersal: evidence from feeding experiments and genetic structures

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 18K19215
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Research (Exploratory)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Medium-sized Section 39:Agricultural and environmental biology and related fields
• Research Institution: Kobe University
• Principal Investigator: Suetsugu Kenji 神戸大学, 理学研究科, 教授 (70748839)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-06-29 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: ナナフシ / 単為生殖 / 受動分散 / 被食動物散布 / 種子散布

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Considering that insects constitute a fundamental component of the avian diet, we posited that certain insect eggs may remain unscathed during avian digestion. To test this hypothesis, we fed stick insect eggs to an avian predator and observed that a substantial proportion, ranging from 20% to 80%, of the eggs were voided undamaged. Notably, an analysis of the genetic structure of stick insects suggests that their dispersal through avian vectors indeed plays a role in shaping gene flow.

Free Research Field

生態学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

鳥と昆虫は、捕食者と被食者の関係にあり、鳥類に捕食されれば、昆虫は子孫もろとも生存の可能性を失うというのが通説であった。本研究は、この常識を覆し、分散能力の低い昆虫では、鳥に食べられることがむしろ、移動分散や分布拡大、異なる個体群間での遺伝子交流を促進する要因になりうるという新たな視座を提供するものである。つまり本研究は、生物地理や種分化、生物間相互作用など多様な分野の新たな地平を切り開く成果といえる。