Epargyreus Clarus - Treatments Supporting the Hypothesis - Biology Assignment Help

Assignment Task :

Scenario 1

Hypothesis 1 (Hygiene): Retention of frass in a larval shelter produces a microenvironment in which pathogens potentially harmful to larvae could flourish; frass ejection eliminates this problem.

Rationale: Caterpillars are susceptible to a range of bacterial, fungal, viral, and protozoan pathogens; indeed, many of these agents are used as ‘microbial pesticides’ to control pest Lepidoptera. Opportunities for infection may be exacerbated by proximity to frass. Naturally occurring infections of entomopathogenic fungi may be responsible for limiting insect populations, particularly in warm, moist environments . Ejection of frass may reduce the likelihood of pathogenic infection in shelter?dwelling larvae.

"Epargyreus clarus" is a large skipper butterfly (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae) common throughout much of the continental United States, and uses herbaceous and tree species in the pea family (Leguminosae) as hosts. Larvae of all instars construct and inhabit shelters of cut or folded leaves and silk, successively abandoning shelters and building new ones approximately five times across five instars. They spend most of their time resting in the shelter, and venture out only to feed for brief periods.

"Epargyreus clarus" larvae were obtained from eggs of butterflies, placed in a 2m3 outdoor flight cage, and provided with freshly cut "Pueraria lobata" (kudzu) leaves for oviposition. Larvae were housed in covered plastic shoe boxes (0.3×0.2×0.1m3) and provided with freshly cut kudzu leaves as needed until pupation; boxes were cleaned daily.

To assess the effect on "E. clarus" of extended exposure to frass and its associated microorganisms, I reared caterpillars from hatching through pupation on kudzu leaves, each inside small (5×15×20cm) covered plastic boxes from which frass was either removed daily or left to accumulate for the entire 30?day larval period. Hatchling larvae were placed individually on freshly cut kudzu leaves inserted into ‘aqua?piks’ (self-watering systems) and were randomly assigned to either the ‘clean’ or ‘frassy’ treatment. I removed the frass from the ‘clean’ boxes daily, using paper towels to lightly brush the frass from leaf and box surfaces. The leaves in the frassy treatment were also lifted each day to control for disturbance. Every 5 days, all larvae were removed from their shelters and weighed on a Mettler Toledo AB54 balance, and were then replaced on fresh, field?collected leaves. Pupae were weighed 3 days after pupation.

Data are in three columns (5, 6 & 7) in caterpillar 2 file - all relevant columns start with "hygiene".

To run the analysis.
Use “Fit Y by X” selecting the IVs for X and the DVs for Y - if more than one, then multiple graphs and analyses will be produced.

From the pull-down menu (red arrow at upper left) of each graph, select “Means/Anova/Pooled t”. This assumes equal variances.

You can test variances by selecting “Unequal Variances” and perform a “t Test” if they are unequal.

Analysis of Variance estimates probability of a null hypothesis that treatment means are equal

Questions :

• Is this a good test of the hygiene hypothesis? Explain. 
• Which column is/are independent variable(s) IV, which dependent DV? 
• Describe how each variable is measured including if each is nominal or continuous? 
• How many treatments are there for the IV? 
• Given the graph(s), what is the trend in the data 
• no difference between treatments
• a difference between treatments supporting the hypothesis
• a difference between treatments not supporting the hypothesis
• What is Prob>F for each DV? 
• What is the effect size for each DV? 

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