Feeding preferences of the collembolan Onychiurus sinensis for fungi colonizing holm oak litter (Quercus rotundifolia Lam.)

Nassima Sadaka-Laulan (1) , Jean-François Ponge (2) , Marie-France Roquebert (3) , Édith Bury (3) , Ali Boumezzough (1)

1 Laboratoire d'Ecologie Terrestre
2 CESCO - Centre d'Ecologie et des Sciences de la COnservation
3 Laboratoire de cryptogamie

Ten fungi isolated from decaying holm oak leaves (Quercus rotundifolia Lam.) have been presented to the collembolan species Onychiurus sinensis (Hexapoda). The attractiveness and selectivity of the ten fungi was investigated taken into account the effect of the substrate on which the fungus was,growing (malt-agar or litter) and the effect of fungal odour. Furthermore, moulting, growth, survival and reproduction of O. sinensis in the presence of each of the ten test fungi were studied. Mucor plumbeus and Trichothecium roseum were the most preferred whatever the culture substrate and their odour was the most attractive. Two fungi (Penicillium spinulosum and the Basidiomycete S41) attracted Collembola by their odour but were not preferred as food sources. The animals could survive and reproduce on a mono-diet of several of our test fungi, but not on the Basidiomycete S41 and on Trichoderma polysporum.

Mots clés: Collembola; feeding preferences; leaf litter; fungi; fungal odour

Domaines: Science des sols

Nassima Sadaka-Laulan, Jean-François Ponge, Marie-France Roquebert, Édith Bury, Ali Boumezzough. Feeding preferences of the collembolan Onychiurus sinensis for fungi colonizing holm oak litter (Quercus rotundifolia Lam.). European Journal of Soil Biology, 1998, 34 (4), pp.179-188. ⟨10.1016/S1164-5563(00)86660-1⟩. ⟨hal-00505414⟩