BUDGETS OF DRY MATTER AND PHOSPHORUS IN A LOCUST, LOCUSTA MIGRATORIA Linne

Abstract

The biological economy in the nymph of Locusta migratoria when it feeds on the leaves of the grass Bromus unioloides was studied with special reference to dry matter and phosphorus at a constant temperature of 25℃. The phosphorus contents of the food plant, nymphal body, feces and the exuviae were 0.35%, 0.93%, 0.22% and 0.03%, respectively. The conversion efficiency for dry matter from the plant to the insect body was 16%, while that for phosphorus was 52% ; the latter being thus about three times as much as the former.