Alternative life cycles controlled by temperature and photoperiod in the oligophagous bug, Dybowskyia reticulata

Abstract

Abstract. Effects of temperature and photoperiod on the induction and re‐induction of adult diapause were examined in Dybowskyia reticulata (Dallas) (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae). Adults collected from the field after overwintering in early summer continued oviposition under long‐day conditions of LD 16:8 h at 20 or 25°C, while they re‐entered diapause under short‐day conditions of LD 12:12 h at 25, 27.5 or 30°C. By contrast, adults reared in the laboratory from eggs at 20 or 25°C entered diapause under both long‐day and short‐day conditions, whereas those reared at 27.5 and 30°C entered diapause only under short‐day conditions. Under quasi‐natural conditions in 1993, when summer temperature was low, most adults of the first generation entered diapause in late July. However, in the warmer summer of 1996, oviposition was recorded in many females that ecdysed into adults from July to early August. Even though the seeds of the host plants occur in a restricted period from early summer to early autumn, in warmer years D. reticulata may produce a second generation. The response to temperature with a threshold between 25 and 27.5°C in D. reticulata brings about a switch between the univoltine and bivoltine life cycles.