Air Temperature and Diet are Not Associated with Oxygen Consumption Rate in Banded Crickets, Gryllodes sigillatus

Authors

Nicole Bailey, Penn State Altoona
Connor Oakes, Penn State Altoona
Rachel Sleeth, Penn State Altoona
Mallorie Smith, Penn State Altoona

Abstract

All living organisms acclimate to their environments, with ectothermic species particularly susceptible to environmental change, specifically temperature. Ectothermic insects like crickets directly alter their physiological processes depending on the environment in which they live. Temperature is vital in regulating processes such as metabolism, respiration, and reproduction, among other things. What remains unclear is how a change in the environment, specifically extreme temperature change and dietary alterations, affects physiological processes. In this study, we performed experiments on ectothermic banded crickets to examine the effects of temperature change and the interaction of temperature and diet on oxygen consumption. For both experiments, we found no effect of temperature change or diet on oxygen consumption, and we were unable to correlate diet or temperature to oxygen consumption rate. We recommend more research to fully understand how temperature change and diet affect oxygen consumption rate.

Recommended Citation

Bailey, Nicole; Oakes, Connor; Sleeth, Rachel; and Smith, Mallorie (2023) "Air Temperature and Diet are Not Associated with Oxygen Consumption Rate in Banded Crickets, Gryllodes sigillatus," Butler Journal of Undergraduate Research: Vol. 9 , Article 14.
Retrieved from: https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/bjur/vol9/iss1/14