Temperature-Mediated Programming of Activity Rhythms in Male Gypsy Moths (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae): Implications for the Sterile Male Technique

Abstract

In previous mark-recapture studies, laboratory-reared male gypsy moths, Lymantria dispar (L.), tended to arrive at pheromone sources 1–3 h later than feral males. In this study, laboratory-reared male pupae were exposed to five different temperature regimes, and the resulting adults were tested in an actograph at 25°C. Males that had been held at lower temperatures as pupae became active earlier than males that had been held in warmer treatments. In subsequent mark-recapture trials, males from all treatments were captured at pheromone sources earlier on warm days than on cool ones; however, on any given day, males from lower pupal temperature regimes were captured consistently earlier than males from warmer regimes. Temperature-mediated programming provides a potential means of synchronizing activity rhythms of sterile males with those of wild males in target populations.