Cold Tolerance and Cold-Resistant Substances in Two Tomicus Species during Critical Transferring Periods

Abstract

The pine shoot beetles Tomicus minor and Tomicus yunnanensis are important stem borers of Pinus yunnanensis in southwestern China. To determine strategies for cold resistance and changes in major cold-resistant substances in adults of two Tomicus species during two critical transferring periods, “shoot-to-trunk” and “trunk-to-shoot”, the insects’ supercooling point (SCP), freezing point (FP), and antifreeze protective substances were determined. The SCP and FP did not differ between female and male adults in the shoot-to-trunk phase, but were significantly lower in females in the trunk-to-shoot period. Although there was no difference in the SCP and FP between the two Tomicus species adults, both indexes were significantly lower in the shoot-to-trunk period than in the trunk-to-shoot period. The trehalose content in females of two Tomicus species was significantly lower than that in males in the trunk-to-shoot period, and the protein, glycerol, glycogen, fat, and sorbitol contents were different between the species in the same period. The protein and water content in adults of both species were significantly lower in the shoot-to-trunk period than in the trunk-to-shoot period, but the content of glycerol, trehalose, water, sorbitol, glycogen, and fat content were significantly higher in the shoot-to-trunk. Different types of cold-resistant substances regulating sex, species, and developmental stages were found, and the most abundant were cold-resistant substances regulating developmental stages.