Annals of the Entomological Society of America · 1979 · 16 citations · 0 references
Life SciencesDevelopmental BiologyEntomologyAgricultural EntomologyInsect Developmental BiologyInsect EcologyDevelopmental StagesDevelopmental Temperature EffectsTemperature ManagementDevelopmental Rate CalibrationDevelopmental Thermal LimitsEnvironmental Temperature Effects On DevelopmentHeat Unit AccumulationLarval Temperature EffectsTemperature Effects On Pupal DevelopmentTemperature-dependent Larval DevelopmentThermal Biology
A thermal-unit accumulation system was developed and validated for the southwestern corn borer (SWCB), Diatraea grandiosella Dyar, on corn. Individuals reared on corn required significantly (P<0.05) longer to develop than those on synthetic diet. Male and female developmental times were not significantly different (P>0.05). The thermal-unit accumulation system was calculated from larvae reared on corn. The base temperature for egg-to-adult development (10°C) was used as the developmental threshold for all stages. Insects reared at 18.3° and 32.2°C required ca. 86 and 32 days, respectively, for egg-to-adult development. SWCB requires an accumulation of 733 thermal units for egg-to-adult development. Developmental rates observed for the natural population at St. John, Kansas during 1976 and 1977 agreed with the rates predicted from the thermal-unit accumulation system.