e-space
Manchester Metropolitan University's Research Repository

    Calcium Accumulation and Loss and Vitamin D3 Content of Feeder Black Field Crickets (Gryllus bimaculatus) Fed on a High Calcium Diet with and without UVB Irradiation

    Bah-Nelson, India, Newton-Youens, Jade ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8491-8828, Ferguson, Amanda and Michaels, Christopher John (2021) Calcium Accumulation and Loss and Vitamin D3 Content of Feeder Black Field Crickets (Gryllus bimaculatus) Fed on a High Calcium Diet with and without UVB Irradiation. Journal of Zoological and Botanical Gardens, 2 (3). pp. 382-387.

    [img]
    Preview
    Published Version
    Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.

    Download (371kB) | Preview

    Abstract

    Calcium metabolism in insectivores may be perturbed by insufficient calcium or vitamin D3. Insects may be gut loaded to increase calcium content, and recent research shows that exposure to UVB radiation can increase the vitamin D3 content of some invertebrates. Typical gut loading protocols result in peak calcium content after 24–48 h, while existing evidence with UVB irradiation involves exposure periods of tens of days. We UVB-irradiated fasted black field crickets (Gryllus bimaculatus) while feeding them on high calcium diets for 48 h, then fasted them for a further 24 h, and measured the vitamin D3, calcium, and phosphorus content compared with non-irradiated controls. UVB irradiation had no effect on vitamin D3 (crickets had no detectable levels of vitamin D3 at any point), or on calcium accumulation rates, which approximated existing research. Crickets significantly increased their calcium:phosphorus ratio from 0.17 to approximately 0.4 over 24 h and this did not increase over a further 24 h of feeding. Removal of the food source resulted in loss of all accumulated calcium within 24 h. Our results have implications for managing food sources for captive insectivores and highlight the importance of good feeder preparation and rapid consumption to ensure optimal calcium delivery to predators.

    Impact and Reach

    Statistics

    Activity Overview
    6 month trend
    277Downloads
    6 month trend
    74Hits

    Additional statistics for this dataset are available via IRStats2.

    Altmetric

    Repository staff only

    Edit record Edit record