ELEVATED COPPER LEVELS DURING LARVAL DEVELOPMENT CAUSE ALTERED LOCOMOTOR BEHAVIOR IN THE ADULT CARABID BEETLE PTEROSTICHUS-CUPREUS L (COLEOPTERA, CARABIDAE)

It is generally believed that copper causes changes in carabid communi ties indirectly by reducing food availability, because these animals a re frequently found to have only slightly elevated metal contents even close to pollution sources, Using computer-centered video tracking, t he locomotor behavior of adult Pterostichus cupreus carabid beetles wa s quantified after being raised on copper-contaminated food and soil d uring larval development, Copper was found to have an acute toxic effe ct measured in larval mortality, to cause a slight increase in the dev elopmental period of males, but not to effect the emergence weights of adults of either sex, This toxic effect on the larvae was preserved t hrough pupation to the surviving adults, which were normal in size and appearance, but displayed a dramatically depressed locomotor behavior . Copper analysis of these adults revealed that copper levels were eit her the same as or only slightly elevated in comparison with controls, The findings suggest that the altered locomotor behavior is associate d with copper-induced internal structural damage during larval develop ment and therefore expresses a prolonged or permanent effect, Such cha nges in locomotor behavior are likely to reduce the fitness of the ani mal under field conditions. (C) 1995 Academic Press, Inc.