Effects of diet, photoperiod and temperature on the postdiapause reproduction in the cabbage bug, Eurydema rugosa

Abstract

In Eurydema rugosa Motschulsky (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae), the type of food supplied (i.e. seeds or leaves of the brown mustard, Brassica juncea Hemsel) and photoperiod, which control the induction of adult diapause, do not play a role in the initiation of reproduction after overwintering. A temperature above 13.2°C was required to start reproduction. After its initiation, however, short-day conditions on seeds induced diapause again in some adults. Although a diet of seeds under long-day conditions, in common with short-day conditions, induced diapause in young adults (Numata & Yamamoto, 1990), it did not reinduce diapause in adults after overwintering. Thus, E. rugosa that had overwintered became sensitive to diapause-inducing photoperiod again but not to dietary factors.