Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dk4vv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T18:14:56.363Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Some effects of temperature and larval food on the development of Spodoptera littoralis (Boisd.) (Lep., Noctuidae)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

C. R. B. Baker  and
G. W. Miller
C. R. B. Baker
Affiliation:
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Plant Pathology Laboratory, Harpenden, Herts, AL5 2BD, England
G. W. Miller
Affiliation:
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Plant Pathology Laboratory, Harpenden, Herts, AL5 2BD, England
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The development of all stages of Spodoptera littoralis (Boisd.) was studied in controlled-environment cabinets under a range of constant and cycling temperatures. Larvae were tested on three food plants; development was faster on lucerne than on two cultivars of chrysanthemum, Taffeta and Fred Shoesmith. The durations of each instar were similar in relation to larval life span, but at low temperatures and on chrysanthemum many larvae went through an extra instar. Late-instar larvae were nocturnal but larval development was little disturbed by a night-break lighting regime as used in the production of all-the-year-round (AYR) chrysanthemums, and only slightly more so by a reversed temperature cycle. The latter changed the daily pattern of moth emergence which otherwise occurred mostly when temperatures were highest or in the dark. The development results were used to estimate duration of development by summing (a) daily increments of development (100/duration of development), (b) day-degrees (for eggs 28·6 day°C above 14·8°C; for larvae on lucerne 266·1 day°C above 11·5°C, on chrysanthemum 257·1 day°C above 13°C, and above 13°C 177·1 day°C for male pupae and 153·5 day°C for female pupae). The estimates were compared with observed development times for all stages in an environment where temperatures fluctuated naturally. Both methods gave satisfactory estimates when development times were short, but temperature summation was less accurate when maximum temperatures fell close to base temperatures. It is concluded that summation of development increments would give a more consistently accurate account of the life-cycle of S. littoralis on AYR chrysanthemum under glass to enable development to be predicted or past events in the life-cycle to be dated. Tables of development increments against daily maximum and minimum temperatures are given for each stage. To estimate duration of development from these Tables, the daily percentage development corresponding to each day's maximum and minimum temperature is summed up to 100%. This gives an estimate of the median point of hatching or pupation.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Bulletin of Entomological Research , Volume 63 , Issue 3 , March 1974 , pp. 495 - 511
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1974

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Meteorological Office (1946). Tables for evaluation of daily values of accumulated temperature above and below 42°F from daily values of maximum and minimum temperature.—10 pp. London, Meteorological Office (Form 3300).Google Scholar
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1961). Chrysanthemums.—Bull. Minist. Agric., Fish. Fd Lond. no. 92, 1–66.Google Scholar
Arnold, C. Y. (1959). The determination and significance of the base temperature in a linear heat unit system.—Proc. Am. Soc. hort. Sci. 74, 430–445.Google Scholar
Baker, C. R. B. (1969a). Modular construction of controlled-environment equipment for biological research.—Lab. Pract. 18, 308–310.Google Scholar
Baker, C. R. B. (1969 b). Apparatus for studying nocturnal patterns of oviposition and larval eclosion and diel patterns of moth emergence.—Bull. ent. Res. 58, 553–557.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bishara, I. (1934). The cotton worm, Prodenia litura F. in Egypt.—Bull. Soc. r. ent. Égypte 18, 288–420.Google Scholar
Hassan, A. S., Moussa, M. A. & Nasr, E. A. (1960). Behaviour of larvae and adults of the cotton leaf worm, Prodenia litura (Fabr.). [Lepidoptera: Noctuidae].—Bull. Soc. ent. Égypte 44, 337–343.Google Scholar
Howe, R. W. (1967). Temperature effects on embryonic development in insects.—A. Rev. Ent. 12, 15–42.Google Scholar
Hussey, N. W. & Gostick, K. G. (1964). Effects of low-temperature storage on the eggs of Spodoptera littoralis (Boisd.).—Nature, Lond. 203, 323–324.Google Scholar
Jarczyk, H. J. & Hertle, P. (1959). Contributions to the biology and biochemistry of the cotton leaf-worm, Prodenia litura (F.) (Noctuidae). IV. Further investigations on the prepupal and pupal stage and on the emergence of female and male moths.—Z. angew. Ent. 45, 94–102.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jarczyk, H. J., Jarczyk, M. & Flaschenträger, B. (1957.) Contribution to the biology and biochemistry of the cotton leaf-worm, Prodenia litura (F.). I. Investigations on the duration of the pupal stage and on the emergence and its relation to the daytime of female and male moths.—Bull. Soc. ent. Égypte 41, 621–626.Google Scholar
Morris, R. F. & Fulton, W. C. (1970). Models for the development and survival of Hyphantria cunea in relation to temperature and humidity.—Mem. ent. Soc. Can. no. 70, 1–60.Google Scholar
Mountford, M. D. (1966). Relation of temperature to the duration of the development of insects.—Nature, Lond. 211, 993–994.Google Scholar
Moussa, M. A., Zaher, M. A. & Kotby, F. (1960). Abundance of the cotton leaf worm, Prodenia litura (F.) in relation to host plants. I. Host plants and their effect on biology. [Lepidoptera: Agrotidae-Zenobiina].—Bull. Soc. ent. Égypte 44, 241–251.Google Scholar
Nasr, E. A. (1961). Abundance of the early stages and adults of Prodenia litura (F.) in berseem fields (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae).—Bull. Soc. ent. Égypte 45, 229–232.Google Scholar
Nasr, E. A. & Ibrahm, M. M. (1966). Contribution to the biology of the cotton leaf worm Prodenia litura (F.), with reference to larval colouration (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae).—Bull. Soc. ent. Égypte 49, 159–162.Google Scholar
Powell, D. F. & Gostick, K. G. (1971). Control of Spodoptera littoralis (Boisd.), Myzuspersicae (Sulz.) and Tetranychus urticae (Koch) by cold storage and fumigation.—Bull. ent. Res. 61, 235–240.Google Scholar
Pradhan, S. (1946). Insect population studies. IV. Dynamics of temperature effect on insect development.—Proc. natn. Inst. Sci. India 12, 385–404.Google Scholar
Rivnay, E. (1962). Field crop pests in the Near East.—450 pp. Den Haag, Junk.Google Scholar
Rivnay, E. & Meisner, J. (1966). The effects of rearing conditions on the immature stages and adults of Spodoptera littoralis (Boisd.).—Bull. ent. Res. 56, 623–634.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Searle, S. A. &Machin, B. J. (1968). Chrysanthemums the year round.—3rd edn, 379 pp.—London, Blandford.Google Scholar